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Message from Mr.A.K.Mittal , regional Director , NIVH at the closing of the 5 day orientation for School Teachers organized jointly by
Vision-Aid and NIVH in Vizag, India
MESSAGE FOR THE CLOSING FUNCTION
A.K.Mittal, Regional Director, NIVH - R C, Chennai
Permit me to state, at the very outset, that I feel greatly honoured to interact, though in abstentia, with this important group of teachers and
other important persons, associated with this Orientation Course. I would have felt greatly privileged, if I could be present personally with
you, yet, some pressing official preoccupations have kept me tied down to my office work denying this valuable opportunity.
However, I have been keeping myself abreast of the work being done here during the preceding four days or so. Mr. MS Raju, President,
Vision Aid Centre, has been keeping me fully updated on the progress of the course. I am very happy to find that the course has evoked a
tremendous response, here, and that we have over 45 participants, compared to just 30 we had, initially targeted for.
It is not just the number. I am told that the participants have been following the programme of lectures and practical work at the course with
rapt attention and abiding motivation. This sustained interest of participants is, to me, the real hallmark of the success of the course.
Before I proceed further, I wish to place on record the sincere appreciation of each one of us at the Institute, for Vision Aid USA and Vision
AID Centre, Visakhapatnam, for joining hands with us in organizing this important programme.
Our association with Vision Aid Visakhapatnam is not very old, dates back to just about 5-6 months, in fact . So, when we , initially,
interacted with Vision Aid Visakhapatnam and their President Mr. MS Raju, about this course, we were rather diffident, even uncertain, on
whether they would, indeed, be able to perform this important responsibility effectively. However, the diligence, application and
commitment shown by Mr. Raju and his team soon dispelled all our initial doubts. We are, now, in a position to state with considerable
pride and confidence that in Vision Aid we have found a credible and efficient partner, a real well wisher of persons with visual impairment
whom we are all committed to serve. The success of the programme here is due , to a substantial degree, to the careful and systematic
planning and preparation and highly professional transaction of the course curriculum, on the part of our new partners, the Vision Aid
Visakhapatnam and its President, Mr. Raju .
We would , however, like to take this opportunity to urge you to continue your mission with added zeal and dedication in weeks and months
to come. There is so much that needs to be done in this area for effective mainstreaming and empowerment of persons with visual
impairment. Let this Orientation Course be just the beginning of a continuum of efforts - yours and ours in concert - for highly
professionalised service to persons with vision impairment, not just in the medical field, but also the non medical facets of rehabilitation.
Friends, our Government, today is striving for the creation of an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for visually impaired and
other persons with disabilities. A society to be truly ‘ inclusive’ must mean a society for all -- the privileged, the less privileged; the educated,
the uneducated; the so called ‘ able-bodied’ and the disabled. We can no longer push the less resourceful or the disabled to the fringes or
the margins of living or ostracize them into exclusionist settings. A ‘barrier- free’ society could be a reality only if it is freed from physical and
attitudinal barriers, as well as social, economic and cultural obstacles and prejudices. A ‘ rights-based’ society has to be based on the
concept of human rights. It has to make a paradigm shift from a pity or charity- based approach to a rights-based approach to the
development of visually impaired and other disabled persons.
All these objectives will remain a subject of mere clichés and rhetoric, unless community-leaders like Vision Aid and ‘ the architects of
India’s future’ - the teachers, come forward to support the visually impaired in the right spirit, with the right orientation. The exclusion of
children with disabilities from education results in their exclusion from opportunities for further development, particularly diminishing their
access to vocational training, meaningful employment, income generation and business development. Thus, inability to access education
and training prevents for our disabled friends, the achievement of economic and social independence and increases vulnerability to poverty
in what can become a self-perpetuating, inter-generational cycle. Our efforts through this course with Vision Aid in Visakhapatnam and
elsewhere, mark important milestones in our efforts to sensitize and orient the school systems throughout this region to the needs and
modalities of educational mainstreaming for children with vision-impairment.
May I conclude by making an earnest appeal to all our participating teachers, here. You hold the key to universalisation of education for our
children with vision-impairment. Such mainstreaming alone paves the way to genuine empowerment and contributing citizenship. So, I
appeal to you in all humility to view this course not as one among the many you are deputed to attend as a part of your career, many of
which, I know, are forgotten about shortly after attendance. This is a different programme which should help in providing you the necessary
empathy with the cause of education for the visually impaired, an empathy which must abide and endure. Through you friends, we wish to
reach out to all those thousands of young visually impaired children currently languishing in a state of denial, deprivation, ostracisation.
Through you we wish to usher in a new era of school-enrollment and educational successes for these children.
I wish, finally, to express our thanks once again to our friends at Vision Aid, to all our participating teachers, to all of our scholarly resource
persons and to one and all contributing towards organizing this course.
Thank you!
A.K.Mittal
Return to Special Education page
Return to Home page
Vision-Aid and NIVH in Vizag, India
MESSAGE FOR THE CLOSING FUNCTION
A.K.Mittal, Regional Director, NIVH - R C, Chennai
Permit me to state, at the very outset, that I feel greatly honoured to interact, though in abstentia, with this important group of teachers and
other important persons, associated with this Orientation Course. I would have felt greatly privileged, if I could be present personally with
you, yet, some pressing official preoccupations have kept me tied down to my office work denying this valuable opportunity.
However, I have been keeping myself abreast of the work being done here during the preceding four days or so. Mr. MS Raju, President,
Vision Aid Centre, has been keeping me fully updated on the progress of the course. I am very happy to find that the course has evoked a
tremendous response, here, and that we have over 45 participants, compared to just 30 we had, initially targeted for.
It is not just the number. I am told that the participants have been following the programme of lectures and practical work at the course with
rapt attention and abiding motivation. This sustained interest of participants is, to me, the real hallmark of the success of the course.
Before I proceed further, I wish to place on record the sincere appreciation of each one of us at the Institute, for Vision Aid USA and Vision
AID Centre, Visakhapatnam, for joining hands with us in organizing this important programme.
Our association with Vision Aid Visakhapatnam is not very old, dates back to just about 5-6 months, in fact . So, when we , initially,
interacted with Vision Aid Visakhapatnam and their President Mr. MS Raju, about this course, we were rather diffident, even uncertain, on
whether they would, indeed, be able to perform this important responsibility effectively. However, the diligence, application and
commitment shown by Mr. Raju and his team soon dispelled all our initial doubts. We are, now, in a position to state with considerable
pride and confidence that in Vision Aid we have found a credible and efficient partner, a real well wisher of persons with visual impairment
whom we are all committed to serve. The success of the programme here is due , to a substantial degree, to the careful and systematic
planning and preparation and highly professional transaction of the course curriculum, on the part of our new partners, the Vision Aid
Visakhapatnam and its President, Mr. Raju .
We would , however, like to take this opportunity to urge you to continue your mission with added zeal and dedication in weeks and months
to come. There is so much that needs to be done in this area for effective mainstreaming and empowerment of persons with visual
impairment. Let this Orientation Course be just the beginning of a continuum of efforts - yours and ours in concert - for highly
professionalised service to persons with vision impairment, not just in the medical field, but also the non medical facets of rehabilitation.
Friends, our Government, today is striving for the creation of an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for visually impaired and
other persons with disabilities. A society to be truly ‘ inclusive’ must mean a society for all -- the privileged, the less privileged; the educated,
the uneducated; the so called ‘ able-bodied’ and the disabled. We can no longer push the less resourceful or the disabled to the fringes or
the margins of living or ostracize them into exclusionist settings. A ‘barrier- free’ society could be a reality only if it is freed from physical and
attitudinal barriers, as well as social, economic and cultural obstacles and prejudices. A ‘ rights-based’ society has to be based on the
concept of human rights. It has to make a paradigm shift from a pity or charity- based approach to a rights-based approach to the
development of visually impaired and other disabled persons.
All these objectives will remain a subject of mere clichés and rhetoric, unless community-leaders like Vision Aid and ‘ the architects of
India’s future’ - the teachers, come forward to support the visually impaired in the right spirit, with the right orientation. The exclusion of
children with disabilities from education results in their exclusion from opportunities for further development, particularly diminishing their
access to vocational training, meaningful employment, income generation and business development. Thus, inability to access education
and training prevents for our disabled friends, the achievement of economic and social independence and increases vulnerability to poverty
in what can become a self-perpetuating, inter-generational cycle. Our efforts through this course with Vision Aid in Visakhapatnam and
elsewhere, mark important milestones in our efforts to sensitize and orient the school systems throughout this region to the needs and
modalities of educational mainstreaming for children with vision-impairment.
May I conclude by making an earnest appeal to all our participating teachers, here. You hold the key to universalisation of education for our
children with vision-impairment. Such mainstreaming alone paves the way to genuine empowerment and contributing citizenship. So, I
appeal to you in all humility to view this course not as one among the many you are deputed to attend as a part of your career, many of
which, I know, are forgotten about shortly after attendance. This is a different programme which should help in providing you the necessary
empathy with the cause of education for the visually impaired, an empathy which must abide and endure. Through you friends, we wish to
reach out to all those thousands of young visually impaired children currently languishing in a state of denial, deprivation, ostracisation.
Through you we wish to usher in a new era of school-enrollment and educational successes for these children.
I wish, finally, to express our thanks once again to our friends at Vision Aid, to all our participating teachers, to all of our scholarly resource
persons and to one and all contributing towards organizing this course.
Thank you!
A.K.Mittal
Return to Special Education page
Return to Home page
(c) Copyright, 2004. Vision-Aid. All Rights Reserved.
Vision-Aid
A 501(c)(3) Non Profit Organization serving the visually disadvantaged in Under-Served Areas
A 501(c)(3) Non Profit Organization serving the visually disadvantaged in Under-Served Areas