TN govt educators working with disabled students to be given Helen Keller Award

CHENNAI: The Department of Welfare of Differently Abled Persons has announced that it plans to honour government school teachers/special educators working with students with disabilities with the Helen Keller Award on December 3.

The department has selected December 3, as the day is celebrated as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

As per the circular from the department, a state-level selection committee will select the awardees for the awards, which are usually presented on Independence Day and/or International Day of Persons with Disabilities to persons/organisations who have rendered outstanding service to the welfare of Persons with Disabilities. For this, the fund allocation was also increased by Rs 1.81 lakh.

The circular also mentioned that the award has been named after Helen Keller, the world-renowned American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer with multiple disabilities. Hence, the government announced the award for outstanding teacher/special educator for visually and hearing impaired students known as the Helen Keller award, it noted.

However, the annual State awards were given to the persons/organisations who have served the PwDs in various categories on I-Day. The awards will be given in two categories; best teacher/educator award for teaching the hearing impaired and teaching the visually impaired, and the other for the best elementary teacher/educator for teaching the hearing impaired.

Deepak Nathan of the December 3 Movement, working for the empowerment of PwDs, said, “The award should have been ideally named as Anne Sullivan award, as due to the contribution and dedication of the teacher, Helen has achieved laurels in life. Additionally, we request the committee to have a robust selection process as teachers should be nominated for the award and not apply themselves. Inputs of disabled students must be taken into consideration while giving awards.”