Visit to Shastri School for Deaf and Dumb children 
US Chapter: Asha Seattle

Compiled by Jayashree, Gayathri and Manohar
Date: 6^th Jan 2001 

Introduction

We made it to the Shastri school on Saturday morning a little before 10:00 AM. The classes had not yet started. The school is in Mahalakshmi layout close to the Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple in Bangalore city. I was a bit surprised to see the school building. The school premises consist of a fairly small rented house with very little compound space. The school seems very cramped.  This is in a primarily residential area.

The children were all gathered outside on the street for their assembly before start of the school day. We made our way into the office past the children’s curious looks. The office is right by the entrance of the house. It is a small room with a desk for the principal Smt Vijayakumari and some chairs for visitors. As we introduced ourselves (Gayathri and Manohar already knew her) the children started making their way into their respective classes.

Classrooms are a very cramped and informal affair. The main hall next to the office contains two classes squeezed in with the help of a wooden screen separator. Into the little space are crammed benches & desks for the children, a chalk board and a little standing room for the teacher. Lessons are taught via lip reading. Children at taught to lip read from the very early classes. Sign language is used only to augment the conversation occasionally. The children watch the teacher intently to figure out what she is saying. At least a couple of them turned around and started lip reading us instead! With so little space it must be difficult for the children to concentrate.

School Background

The principal Smt Vijayakumari seems like a very simple and sweet lady. There was no attempt to guide us through the school. We were left free to ask any questions and wander through the school on our own and stay for as long as we chose to. A refreshing change! Smt Vijayakumari is obviously very committed to the school. She gave us a brief history. The school was started in 1993 by parents of children with hearing impairments since there was no school giving the required special education in this area. The school management is mostly parents of hearing impaired children. She explained to us that it is important to locate such schools close to bus stops so that the children wont have much difficulty in making their way to the school in busy Bangalore traffic. I cannot even imagine what it must be like for a hearing impaired child to find her way to school amidst the traffic congestion on the streets of Bangalore! Given this I feel that the current school neighborhood is fairly safe for the children. 

The Children

Children come from mostly low income families from areas such as Kengeri, Vijayanagar, Deepanjalinagar etc. All of them are atleast partially hearing impaired. Their age groups are similar to those found in other schools for children from 1^st to 8^th standard. A total of 139 children attend the school which has classes from std 1 through 8. Average attendance is approximately 110 at any time. The school plans to keep adding classes as the children graduate from each year.  A total staff of 17 works in the school. 40 children who are orphaned study at the school. 22 of them live with the principal Smt Vijayakumari and the remaining 18 children stay with 2 other staff members (secretary and teacher – names??).  How were the orphans found?

Rental Problems

The school has been having plenty of problems of late. The landlord wants them to vacate the building so that his son can get married. He wanted the school authorities to vacate immediately but they refused since the children will have an interrupted school year. The landlord then went to the police and filed a complaint. The school authorities managed to explain their situation to the police and got a stay order till end of March when the school year ends. The children’s exams will be done by then. They are now in the process of looking for a new place but have to deal with the landlord’s persistence on a constant basis till then. They are fairly confident of finding a new place to meet their needs. They pay Rs.7500 towards rent every month. They also need to find a place very soon and begin construction at the earliest. I don’t know if this will be possible by june july 2001. This is when the children will return from their summer vacation.

Long term plans

Long term, they are thinking of buying some school property and building on this. They have been raising funds from the public every year during the summer holidays. So far they have raised Rs 3 lakhs towards this. They also have a land donated to them which is too far from the children’s home. They cannot utilize this land for building but plan to sell it to raise more funds for their school building long term. They think they will rent a while longer in order to raise more funding before buying the land.

Over the last four years they have been approaching the government for grants but have been unsuccessful so far. They are still trying every year.

Classes

We wandered through the school trying not to disturb the classes in progress. The classes are very cramped and I really wish they had more space.  Every part of the house including the kitchen and storage area is used as a class room. There is a bathroom available. The curriculum taught is the regular government school curriculum using lip reading techniques. The children are also taught both lip reading and sign language from the very beginning.

Teachers