With a vision to enable the differently-abled, The Ponty Chadha Foundation by Wave Group established Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan (MBCN). An initiative of Late Ponty Chadha – the institution was established in 1999 with a special endeavour to not only educate but also equip special-children to live within the community.
It's been 20 years that MBCN, one of India's largest school for specially-abled, has been enabling the 'children with special needs'. And to commemorate the achievement, the school celebrated its 20th Annual Day on February 23.
On the occasion, the specially-abled children presented a theatre show titled 'Totto-chan', the Little Girl at the Window. The play is an autobiographical memoir penned by Japanese television personality and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.
Further, the school also released self-instructional training modules to enable the trainers/caretakers of specially-abled children in promoting the development of young children with developmental delays in a home setting.
With this module, the school aims to reach out to caregivers/parents who either cannot afford to avail educational/ developmental training services for their specially-abled child or such services are not available in their areas because of remote and underdeveloped location. The handbook would be available in both Hindi and English language. Some of the topics covered in the handbook are developmental milestone checklist, activities for stimulating cognitive, motor, language and social development. In addition to this, another manual on menstrual hygiene management for special needs adolescent was also released. In the next phase the school will release demo videos for every activity mentioned in the handbook on the mobile-based application.
During the event, Manpreet Singh Chadha, Vice-Chairman, Wave Group expressed his condolences towards the martyrs of the Pulwama attack and requested the gathering to observe one minute silence.
Talking about the annual day he said, "This year the enthusiasm at MBCN has multiplied manifolds. Receiving the 'National Award' for 'Best Institution working for the Cause of Persons with Disabilities' has uplifted our commitment and zeal."
"I am thrilled that with each passing year we are expanding our horizons and touching lives of more and more specially-abled children. Working on my father's philosophy and vision, we are determined to work towards creating a better society for the specially-abled. I am thankful for the recognition by the Government of India and all the support received from the Principal, teachers, parents and well-wishers who are working tirelessly towards the betterment of this segment," he further added.
Speaking on the occasion, Vandana Sharma, Director and Principal, Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan said, "The 'Centre for Research, Innovation and Technology for Disability' at the school has been doing a lot of innovative work. Sensing a need for providing assistance to caregivers in remote or underdeveloped areas of our country, our research centre has developed these handbooks."
The Principal of the school also believes that with this initiative the school can, not only create awareness of the developmental skills for children who are regularly coming to the school, but can also achieve in making an impact on the lives of other specially abled children who cannot afford such services.
Sharma informed that in the next phase of this initiative, Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketanwill also release demo videos for every activity mentioned in the handbook on the mobile-based application.