They were performing at an event organised for children with disabilities in connection with the International Day for the Disabled Children at the Alhamra Hall No 2 at The Mall.
In a tableau performance, students showed how a disabled child gets ignored right from his birth. The child and his mother are condemned by the family. The mother is tormented by questions like “how will he get an education?”, “Will he ever speak?” and “What will be his future?”.
However, she takes up the challenge and following successful speech therapy sees her child speaking. The child eventually finishes a college degree and secures a respectable position in the society. The play implied that given right guidance and assistance children with disabilities could grow up to be useful citizens for the society.
Students of the Government Central High School for Deaf, Special House Gulberg II, presented a tableau based on the song Teray Bina Dil Na Lagay.
Though the students were unable to listen to the song, they coordinated so well with their instructor’s signals that a casual observer could not have guessed their handicap.
“Teachers need to understand disabled children’s special needs and help them become normal members of the society,” said Ghazala Nadeem, a teacher at Government Deaf and Defective Hearing Model School, Rajgadh Road, Chauburji. Earlier, she helped her students perform to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s song koi tu hay jo. Samina Wasim, the principal of the school, said that teachers had a bigger role in bringing up disadvantaged children than the parents. She said more such events should be organised to encourage the children to exhibit their talents. She said more resources, appreciation and acceptance could help children grow up like their peers without a handicap.
Zakia Shahnawaz, special advisor to the chief minister, was the chief guest at the occasion.
Talking to The Express Tribune, she said there were 210 institutes in the province working for disabled children.
Several teachers of the Special Education Institutes and the Teachers’ Training Institutes said that they were not satisfied with the facilities available to them. Other performances included tableaus from students of the Government Secondary Institute for the Blind, Sheranwala Gate; the Government Special Education Centre, Shalimar Town; Government Institute for Slow-Learners, Samnabad Mor; Government School for Physical Disabled, Chauburji; and Govt Special Education Centre, Aziz Bhatti Town.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2010.
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