An International conference here today stressed the need for a collaborative effort on the part of government and civil society to help change the lives of differently abled children.
The focus of the rehabilitation programmes of differently challenged children should be more on how to make their future productive than just teaching them life skills, Rashmi Saxena Sahni, joint secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development said.
She was delivering the keynote address at the inaugural ceremony of the conference on 'Recent Trends in Special Education for Young Persons With Special Needs', organised to mark the silver jubilee of DARE School here, supported by Tata Global Beverages.
"Ensuring a good quality of life for these children greatly relies on the following up of rehabilitation services provided to them. If the civil society's efforts are combined with that of the government provisions, great difference can be made in their life," she said.
"I think both civil society and government will be ready to do together to make a difference the lives of these children," she said.
The official also said the central government had drawn up several schemes and programmes to improve the lives of differently abled children.
"Under the ministry of Women and Child Development, we do financial support for the schools for differently abled. We have also recently released a national action plan for children, where we have focussed on disabilities and need to help such children," she said.
However, she said government-run homes of disabled children need more improvement in this regard.
Sahni also urged parents and the society to ensure that technology is being used for the benefit of differently abled children.
The official also requested to share the experience of the DARE School with the government-run special schools across the country for the benefit of the disabled children there.
Tata Global Beverages Ltd chairman Harish Bhat and Tata-supported Srishti Welfare Trust managing trustee, Ratna Krishnakumar also spoke.
The messages of Tata Trust chairman Ratan Tata and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were read during the two day event.
A host of global experts from five countries including United States, Israel, Sweden, Australia and India are taking part in the two day event which would conclude tomorrow.
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