Raouf Dar
Srinagar Sep 13 (KINS): As Covid has taken a toll on people’s lives, at least 1.20 lakh children with disabilities suffer silently in Jammu and Kashmir.
Life has been disturbed across the world due to the Covid. At the same time, at least 1.20 lakh children with disabilities in Jammu and Kashmir are facing tough times.
A senior official of the Education Department said there are 1 lakh 20 thousand children with disabilities in J&K.
“Presently more than 40,000 children with disabilities are enrolled in schools in Kashmir whose education has been badly hit for the last over two years,” he said.
He said most among disabled children belong to poor families and can’t afford an android mobile phone and their education had been badly hit as schools remained almost shut for months.
Bashir Ahmad has a disabled son studying in class 7th. He is speech and hearing impaired.
“My child was not able to join online classes because he can’t hear what his teachers are saying. He understands sign language but there is no sign language interpreter for such students,” he said, who hails from Anantnag.
This is not an isolated case. There are hundreds of such children with disabilities whose education was badly hit by back-to-back lockdowns first after abrogation of Article 370 then Covid-19 in Kashmir.
Ali Mohammad has a daughter suffering from visual problems.
“I even sold some land for her treatment, but doctors said she has least chances to see through her eyes,” he said.
“My daughter who is studying in class 6th used to have classes in Braille language. Her education has been badly hit since August 2019,” he said. (KINS)
