Singapore International Foundation Partners India’s National Role Model

Singapore, 13 December 2010 — Since June 2008, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) has partnered AHEAD Rehabilitation and Research Institute for Mentally Challenged Children on a series of workshops to improve education services for children with special needs in Kolkata, West Bengal. The SIF Workshops on Special Education comes to a close on 16 December, when 14 AHEAD staff will receive certificates of completion and participation. The event will be graced by Mrs Mita Banerjee, Commissioner (Disabilities), Government of West Bengal.

The project marks the Foundation’s first effort to enhance special education in India. This resulted from discussions with AHEAD, a Kolkata-based NGO that provides specialised education and vocational training for children and young adults with special needs. The two organisations came together to improve standards of education for children with special needs in India, as this community is much less likely to attend school than their peers and gain employment as adults.

Since 2008, groups of SIF volunteers from Singapore – all special education professionals – have carried out six workshops, addressing areas including understanding autism, developing personalised teaching plans, and creating a culture of continuous learning.

“By sharing their expertise with teachers and special parents of AHEAD, the SIF volunteers have markedly improved our knowledge levels and approaches towards the education of special children, especially with regards to autism and intellectual disability,” explains Honorary AHEAD President Dr A K Banerjee Choudhury. “This project reflects not only a partnership between two organisations, but also friendships between citizens of two nations." Dr Choudhury is a recipient of India’s Helen Keller Award, conferred by Mrs Sonia Gandhi in 1999; and India’s National Role Model Award, conferred by the Vice President of India Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari in 2008.

The training culminates in a mentorship phase from 6 to 16 December 2010. The volunteers involved, Ms Siti Tasrifah binte Abdul Shukor and Ms Erni Noorhaidah Ahmad, both 38, are making their fifth and third trips to Kolkata for this project, respectively. Ms Siti is a teacher at Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School, while Ms Erni is a teacher at Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore.

The SIF has worked to improve education services for children with special needs since 1992. Past projects have seen the training of special education teachers in Indonesia and Cambodia, and development of a curriculum for the hearing impaired in Timor Leste. The SIF Workshops on Special Education is part of the Foundation’s efforts to uplift lives, through working with communities for sustained development.