xcitement was writ large on their faces as 18 students awaited their first class at the Ananda Rangapillai Government Special School for Differently Abled Children in Pillaichavady, Puducherry. On Monday, a long-awaited demand was finally fulfilled with the school being upgraded to a higher secondary status this academic year.
The new Class 11 has 18 students (10 boys and 8 girls), of which 10 have studied at the school previously. In fact, some of them passed out of Class 10 a couple of years ago, and had been waiting for the school to be upgraded so they could resume their studies, said Kannadasan, Academic in-charge of the school. “The students who had passed out of the school had been undergoing vocational training, and courses in sign language. Now, they are excited to be back in school,” he said.
Two groups are being offered at present. The first group has Tamil, Accountancy, Commerce, Economics and History, while the second group has Tamil, Political Science, Geography, Economics and History. All 18 students who have enrolled are hearing-impaired, and are exempted from studying English.
Teachers said that the demand to upgrade the institution was placed in 1996. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy had announced the government’s plans to upgrade the school at the Assembly in September 2014.
R. Meenakumari, Director, Department of Social Welfare, said, “This upgrade will ensure that students with special needs will not drop-out of school, and can continue their education. The government has spent more than Rs 2 crore on the school for facilities and expenses in the last academic year.”
A new block, with two rooms was inaugurated by Social Welfare Minister P. Rajavelu on Monday, accompanied by Constituency MLA P.M.L. Kalyanasundaram.
The block will have a lab and a smart class which will be used by students of all classes. The smart class for the hearing-impaired come with special devices to enable the students to adjust volume of the visual programme according to their individual hearing levels.
“Parents and children are happy that the school now offers higher secondary course. Otherwise, they would have to go to Chennai to pursue their higher education, which is unaffordable for most students. The students also feel safe here,” said S. Amutha, Assistant Director of the school.
The residential school, which does not charge fees, has students from Puducherry and surrounding areas like Cuddalore, Villupuram and Tindivanam. The school has 88 students at present, of which 19 are day scholars, and 16 teachers. The school, founded in 1963, gets its name from Ananda Ranga Pillai, dubash to French Governor Dupleix.
The Late C. Ananda Ranga Krishnasamy Pillai, a descendent of Ananda Ranga Pillai, had donated the land for the construction of the school. The only let down in the celebrations was the non-arrival of Chief Minister N. Rangasamy who had promised to be at the school at 12 p.m. Finally, Mr. Rajavelu and Mr. Kalyanasundaram reached the school around 2.45 p.m.
Students with special needs will not drop out of school — Meenakumari, Director, Department of Social Welfare
