PANAJI
The State authorities have begun training 240 special educators to roll out the NIEPID DISHA curriculum for children with intellectual disabilities across special and inclusive schools in Goa.
The training sessions, held under the Sewa Pakhwada Abhiyaan of the Government of India, are being conducted from September 17 to 24 in collaboration with the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (NIEPID), Secunderabad, the Goa State Council of Educational Research and Training (GSCERT), and the Office of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.
A statement issued by the Commission for Persons with Disabilities stated that the DISHA curriculum developed by the Jai Vakeel Foundation and approved by NIEPID in 2019, is already in use in over 460 special schools in Maharashtra.
“It provides teachers with manuals, student workbooks and a digital platform to assess and monitor learner progress in real time. It has also been approved by the Rehabilitation Council of India,” it stated.
At the inaugural ceremony, which was held in hybrid mode, Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Rajesh Aggarwal, commended Goa for taking the lead in adopting the curriculum. State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Guruprasad Pawaskar, described it as a much-needed intervention, while GSCERT Director, Meghna Shetgaonkar, pledged institutional support for teacher training.
“The curriculum is intended to benefit the children with intellectual disabilities in special and Inclusive schools of Goa,” it further said.
