School for the Blind
The Mathru School for the Blind was the first institution to be started by the Mathru Educational Trust in 2001. It's goal is to provide free education to blind students, who primarily come from rural areas of Karnataka and around Bangalore. Mathru is also conducting various pre-vocational & vocational training, skill development and placement for the blind students in order to help them to integrate into the local community.
Here are more details.
Education
The academic year at Mathru starts in June and goes until March with a 15-day break in October. One of the primary goals at Mathru is to provide all of its students with the same quality of education as other sighted schools in the State. Thus Mathru follows the Karnataka State Board curriculum. Mathru began with the 1st Standard in 2001 and has added one standard every year. Currently Mathru offers schooling from 1st Standard to 10th Standard in English medium.
Mathru emphasizes the importance of Braille literacy and requires every student to be comfortable with reading and writing Braille with the traditional slate and stylus. Mathru has qualified special educators who are well trained in teaching these students. Besides prescribed State syllabus, Mathru also provides computer skills, spoken English, mobility, sports, fine arts etc.
Computer Education
Understanding the importance of computer education, Mathru has set up a computer lab and has a qualified computer instructor to teach computer skills for the students from 3rd Standard to 10th Standard. These include MS Word,
MS Excel, PowerPoint using Jaws software.
Teaching Daily Living Skills
Besides providing quality education, Mathru makes it a point to teach students the skills they need to lead an independent life such as personal hygiene (toilet manners, brushing teeth, combing hair, dressing up, etc.), community involvement (doing laundry, washing belongings, cleaning dormitory and bathroom, etc.), and mobility training which helps students move confidently around their surroundings without assistance.
Overall Development
Mathru has also engaged sports instructor, who trains the students to maintain good physique, posture and mobility. Students are taken for outdoor sports activities twice a week. They are trained in marching and indoor games.
The students’ daily schedule also has time for participating in yoga and prayer. Prayer is emphasized as a means of discipline. The students are also given their recreation time when they can go to the terrace and play games with their teachers and classmates. In the evening, they watch news in Kannada and English in order to increase awareness, communication skills and language skills.
Skill Development
Apart from mainstream education, the school strives to build confidence in the children and encourages them to enhance their skills and talents. The teachers identify a student’s skills and expose them to music, art and drama classes. The students of Mathru School have won several awards, and often been in the media for their various talents and skills.
Music is a large part of skill development at Mathru. All students sing in unison during the prayer times in the morning and evening. They also have music classes. Mathru has a music teacher to teach music of all kinds (folk, classical, filmy and light music) and also prepare the students for music examination. The Mathru School has also released an audio album of the music produced and sung by its students in February 2008.
Students participate in several dramas, and have won awards in several competitions. Mathru students also evince keen interest in dance. The students perform group dances for special occasions like World Disabled Day, Environment Day, etc.
To showcase their intellectual skills, Mathru students participate in several inter-school and state-wide competitions with other visually impaired as well as sighted students.
Student Success Stories
Yasmeen
Yasmeen joined Mathru School for the Blind in the year 2002. She was 7 years of age back then. She came from a very remote and poor family. When she first came to Mathru, she looked very pale and dirty lacking basic manners and decency. However, it was from her first day of admission here that Mathru identified a hidden talent in her. She had a strong passion for music. At Mathru, she was taught basic life skills including Braille and other academic subjects. She was also admitted to Vani Music School. At the Music School, she got through her Junior Music Exam. She was an excellent student both academically and non-academically. She passed her 10th examinations in 2009 and scored 91.63%. In her Pre-University Exams, she scored 73%. At present, Yasmeen is continuing her studies on Diploma Education for Teaching Blind through correspondence with CBR network and is also serving as a staff teacher at Mathru. She has also taken Senior Music Exam. Yasmeen has made several appearances in many musical programs across public events and on television channels. She has won many awards and accolades at District and State-level Music Competitions.
Maddanna
Maddanna came to Mathru in 2016 to do his high school studies. When he came to Mathru School, he was weak in Braille writing and reading and was an average student. But within 3 years, there was lot of improvement in his academics. He passed out with 94.63% in the public examination conducted by Karnataka Secondary Board.
Dr. Kavya S Bhat
Kavya S. Bhat is Mathru’s first student. When she came to Mathru, her age was just 4 years. She lost her eyesight in cancer treatment. Mathru recognized her talent when she was child and trained her to speak and deliver public speeches on important topics. She won the hearts of public and media. She stood topper in 10th Std. public examination. She completed her post-graduation in Political Science with II rank and has completed PhD.
Chinmayi
Chinmayi is studing in her 8th Std. at Mathru. She is from Bellary and born blind. She has been studying at Mathru from Ist Standard. She is one of the best students of Mathru, not only in academics but also in music, general knowledge and English communication. She has given various musicial performances.
Abhinav
Abhinav has been studying at Mathru from Ist Std. His mother, Ms. Shushma has been bringing him to the school everyday from Vijayanagar. Though there are other blind schools near her place, she wanted her son to study at Mathru because of the cleanliness, discipline and quality of equation. Apart from being good in academics, Abhinav's dept of English, general knowledge and current affairs is amazing. He is a good Mrudanga player and a singer. He has given his performance in Sri Shankara TV Channel and received appreciation from public.
Muneendra
Muneendra is from a very poor family and a remote area. The education and other support given by Mathru helped him to get Government Job and now he works for Bangalore City Corporation. He always expresses his gratitude for quality education, communication, computer skills, exposure to music. All these have helped him to live confidently, economically and independently.
Gowri
Gowri a blind student from Mathru married and well placed. working in Vijaya Bank.
Chetan
Chethan is one of our multiple disabled kids. Aged 5 years when he got admission to our school, he was unable to stand or walk without any support. Now it has been more than a year and there has been a great change in his daily activities. He not only walks but also has started recognizing people, responding to every action and improved in all academics and non-academic activities too.
Asin
Asin is an orphan child, found by the field workers of Mathru. He was referred to Government Boys Home and later given admission to Mathru deafblind project in 2017. When Asin came to us, he had multiple health issues like malnutrition, thin, severe skin allergy and lack of socialization. He was a lifeless body. Immediately after admission, the Trust did a general check up and took him to a pediatrician. We concentrated on his hygiene and health.
Asin has greatly improved in these 2 years - Not only in general health but also in academic and extracurricular activities. His socialization has greatly improved and he is one of the best students in deafblind project.
Dhanushree
Dhanushrsee is a totally blind and hearing impaired girl of 11 years. Belonging to a poor family, when she came to Mathru 6 years back, she was just lying down on the floor and screaming, not allowing anyone to touch her. It was very hard to train her life skills, communication, etc., Now with the support given by special educators and speech therapist, she is not only improved in her behavior, she is good in writing and reading in Braille and speaks to others. Her parents are very happy.
Vaishali
Vaishali is a girl child suffering from cerebral palsy. When she came to the school she was not in a position to sit in a place properly and unable to walk independently. At present, she is sitting on her own, walking independently and also improved in identifying the teachers, other staff and caretakers. She is equally good in identifying objects like fruits, flowers, shapes and numbers. Thanks to our physiotherapist/ Gym instructors for brining such changes, parents are happy with her improvements.