Daharki gets education, rehabilitation facility for specially-abled children

'School will be a benchmark for the government as well as corporate sector to invest in less developed areas'

ISLAMABAD:

A state-of-the-art rehabilitation and education facility for children with diverse disabilities has formally operationalised in Daharki Sindh, this was stated by Special Talent Exchange Programme (STEP) Programmes Director Abia Akram on Monday.

STEP, a cross-disability organization, is led by persons with disabilities. Abia Akram said children with disabilities particularly girls with disabilities living in rural parts of the country are the most marginalised community. This school will be a benchmark for the government as well as the corporate sector to invest in less developed areas of the country, said Abia Akram who has recently been listed in the BBC 100 influential women.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

A team of around 38 specially trained teachers and other professionals including physiotherapists, speech therapists, sign language experts, nutritionists and supporting staff are providing education to over 140 children with diverse disabilities at Noor-e-Sehar Inclusive education complex established in Daharki by Mari Petroleum Company Limited. According to MPCL Regional Field Manager Naveed Aslam, the company set up the facility in technical collaboration with STEP.

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It was briefed that all of the students are from the poverty-stricken back ground living on the margins of the society in rural peripheries of Daharki district.

The plan was to build a small school in 2017 which scaled up after the survey conducted in the field area of MPCL.

Subsequently, the prevalence of children with disabilities in the area was found as seven to eight per cent of the targeted population and keeping in view this magnitude of disability MPCL leadership and STEP envisioned a larger scale project focusing on mainstreaming of children with severe disabilities.

STEP having experience of more than two decades pledged its commitment to transform this vision into a reality said Atif Sheikh, Executive Director STEP.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2021.