Proyash School

Sharone Hardesty, a teacher for special needs children from Massachusetts, USA came to visit Proyash in January, 2011. After meeting the teachers and the principal of the school she made her recommendations for the improvement of the quality of teaching there.

In Bangladesh, a good number of special schools have come up in recent years, but due to inherent limitations like shortage of funds, absence of an appropriate school facility, and shortage of trained personnel, hardly any of them are providing the desired services. On many occasions, new schools suddenly close down after starting, leaving the students and parents in great uncertainty. Our vision is to emerge as a centre of excellence where children with all types of special needs would receive holistic services under one umbrella. The centre would include all required services like:

• Autistic unit
• Cerebral palsy unit
• Intellectual disability unit
• Hearing impairment unit
• Visual impairment unit
• Multiple disability unit
• Early childhood development unit
• Vocational unit
• Inclusive primary education unit
• Adult leisure and learning unit
• Out patient unit
• Evaluation and assessment unit
• Human resource development and research unit

This would be an ideal institute and perform as a model for all special schools in Bangladesh. The centre would be the hub of all activities concerning special needs where resource persons would be developed, service would be provided based on research findings, and people would come to learn and reciprocate in their respective areas seeing this model.

To materialize our dream we need to complete the work according to the master plan which includes a six story school building, hydrotherapy unit, multipurpose hall, and accommodation for teachers and staff. This requires good amount of investment. Whatever has so far been done was by the donations from the Army, its affiliated installations and a few private organisations and individuals. But further expansion with donations would require a significant amount of time and valuable time will be wasted. Many children and parents would be deprived of the services. As such you may provide us assistance for the implementation of the following projects mentioned in order of priority:

• Training Assistance: The school has a set of devoted teachers and staff but they are not adequately trained to meet the demands of the children with special needs. If experts from abroad can come and provide periodical training to the teachers, their capability would increase and would provide better service to the students.
• Procurement of Transport: Most of the students presently come to the school by their own arrangements. Parents owning a car can send their children easily to the school, but poor parents face difficulties, especially those with physically disabled children.
• Construction of Hydrotherapy Service: Many of the students have various sensory dysfunctions. Regular exposure to hydrotherapy would assist in the removal of those sensory difficulties, while also allowing joyful time in the water.
• Construction of Multipurpose Hall: A multipurpose hall would allow any event for students and teachers, such as training sessions, workshops, seminars, and cultural programs, to be organized in a better manner.
• Construction of Academic Building 2nd - 5th Floors: The present academic building has only 18 classrooms, which can accommodate around 160 students. Everyday parents approach school authorities for the admission of their children, but due to shortages of space new students cannot be admitted. The academic building has a foundation for six stories and if the building is vertically extended, another 350 students can be admitted.
• Construction of Two Staff Accommodations (64 Flats): School teachers come from distant location. In a city like Dhaka with huge traffic jams, they are uncertain about their arrival time and become very tired by travelling in a poor transportation system. If they can be accommodated at the school premises they would be better prepared.
• Establishment of Generator Service: Disruption of power is a regular phenomenon. As such, the school needs to have its own generator to provide electricity in case of an electrical supply failure.
• Water Supply System: Presently, the water is provided by temporary arrangements that are unreliable.
• Construction of Football, Badminton, and Basketball Grounds: There are spaces at the school for developing these areas. Students would spend more time and enjoy coming to the school if all these facilities were fully developed.