Education for children with learning disabilities



Nepalese society has indeed made some strides in terms of recognizing mental illnesses, but it still has ways to go when it comes to learning disabilities. Many children suffering from learning disabilities such as dyslexia, ADHD, autism, etc. are completely ignored by the educational system and simply deemed as ‘lazy’ or ‘unwilling to work’ by the people around them. This is a major issue that has been swept under the rug for years instead of being dealt with.

Children with learning disabilities cannot function under the same conditions as children with no mental issues, or neurotypical children. They need special equipment, special environment, and special care. The caretakers should be specially trained to handle children with learning disabilities. In fact, not even all learning disabilities are same; autism, for example, is a very broad term for an array of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behavior, speech, and nonverbal communication. Autistic children are more vulnerable and are relatively easy targets for bullies. An article published in January 2019 discusses how a teacher in Florida was found abusing two autistic children by locking them in a dark bathroom or blowing loud a whistle in their ear as punishment. This happened in the United States, which is supposed to be more developed than Nepal. If this behavior is seen even in first world countries, then how are children with learning disabilities living in Nepal supposed to be hopeful? How can they anticipate a change? It is not just a national problem, but a global one.

In order to bring this issue to light in the Nepalese society, we must first acknowledge that it exists instead of turning a blind eye towards it. No change happens overnight. We can’t expect special learning schools to be constructed immediately, but we can hope that schools start to recognize that some students suffer from these conditions and prepare a curriculum suitable for them. Hiring counselors and consultants who are educated in this area can also be extremely helpful. Other children should also be educated so that they don’t view their classmates with learning disabilities as ‘lesser than’ or a ‘freak’. They should be aware that having a learning disability is like having any other disability and that a person suffering from one is still deserving of friendship and respect. We should try our very best as to not make special needs children feel like they are ‘different’. Children with special needs often have the same brain functionality as developing children, even though they are not equipped with the tools to express that. This is why talking down on them or making fun of them can be detrimental to their health. They feel the same emotions as neurotypical children, but the degree in which they do can vary depending on what disability they have.

Treating all disabilities as the same is also a common mistake. All children with learning disabilities cannot be helped with the same tools. For example, a child with Asperger’s cannot be treated using the same tools as a child with dyslexia. They are radically different issues and affect children differently.

The stigma not only exists in schools however, children might also face problems at home.  As a society, we are not educated enough about learning disabilities. Some parents may not be aware that their child may be suffering from one and might assume that their child is making excuses not to study. We can raise awareness among families. We can start campaigns that raise awareness of learning disabilities. This is not a solid solution to this widespread problem, but it is a start. We have to make strides in reducing the stigma as it is the root of all problems. We have to make sure that children who suffer from these disabilities are not discriminated against or treated with any less respect than ‘normal’ children. 

Right now, all we can do is start somewhere. Start at grassroots levels to ensure that special needs children will one day have the same privileges as neurotypical children. Start to make them believe that the system is not inherently rigged against them. 

Written by: Saisha Dixit (Canopy Nepal)
Edited by: Sabanam Thapa (Canopy Nepal)

Canopy Nepal is a team of visionary youths working in the field of education, skill and leadership development, diversity and inclusion. We seek to improve the quality and efficiency of education by focusing on the learners and reshaping the way they learn.


Public vs Private Schools

Private vs Public schools 

It is said that a school is a second home for a child. It is where children spend most of their time. Here they learn, interact, teach and also experience some of the most important lessons of their lives. The learnings can be both academic as well as practical learning. These learnings eventually shape their professional as well as private lives which will contribute to society. School is one of the most important institutions in building the nation too. The students at schools are taught information which can be assimilated in their daily lives and in society. For its importance, many people from different backgrounds have their own perspective on whether ‘education should be privatized or not.’

I have had an opportunity to experience both public as well as private schools. Private schools and public schools are the major education systems in Nepal. In public schools, the monetary resources and other materialistic resources are usually provided by the government. Hence, the fee charged at public school is less compared to private school because they are funded by the government.
On the other hand, private schools have the complete upper hand over the free structure. Private schools usually rely on their student’s fees and external donations. This has led the private school to be more expensive and inaccessible for the economically challenged family. Therefore, critics of private school argue that private school has been used as a platform to conduct business and gain profit rather than provide quality service. However, parents are still more inclined towards choosing private schools for their children, I believe that even my own parents would choose private school over public school. Though the fee might be on the high end at private schools, their quality service is what attracts their customers.
The facilities could be better at public schools as they sustain regular funds by the government, however, due to their failure of utilizing the available resources as well as limited knowledge of using such resources plays a great role in failing to provide standard education.

Class size in the above-mentioned systems is also another important aspect to look into. I have seen that in public school, the class size is larger compared to private schools.  The teacher-student ratio in the classroom can have an adverse effect on the teaching method as well.
The teacher might be exhausted due to a large number of students or are unable to give the required attention to the individual students. This will consequently influence the overall learning of the students. Private schools can utilize the funds that are available at their disposal from their high-budget fees in hiring experienced as well as trained teachers. Likewise in public schools, according to Grossberg in her article 5 major differences between public and private school, she states ‘public school teachers always need to be certified, private school teachers often don’t need formal certification.’
Nevertheless, even such certified and experienced teachers sometimes show reluctance in focusing on the comprehensive learning of the students. Limited monitoring and evaluation systems in such schools have induced such attitudes among teachers.

Even for their worthy service, private schools are better than public schools to a certain extent, however, there are rooms for improvement. For instance, private school has been praised for their quality service however, the students in private schools are also prone to rote learning.
For me because of the competitive environment which I was in at school. I had to achieve a very high percentage, hence, I would rote learn the context whether I understood the context or not. Also, higher grade attainment in private school may be prevalent, but they limit themselves when it comes to creativity.

It should not be an issue as to where a student should be sent to learn - Public or Private as long as the quality remains. As widely known, ‘Today’s children are tomorrow’s future.’ We should ensure we are giving the correct guidelines to these children who will once build our nation.


Defying the traditional method of learning!


At Canopy Nepal, we focus on promoting interactive learning to make our students independent learners and foster their well-rounded development. We run various programs to ignite the love of reading, writing, listening and speaking among our participants.

Often, we see children are encouraged to adapt in traditional rote learning techniques where children are likely to memorize the context instead of understanding it. The students study for the grades and not for the long term learning, which is a serious problem. We see this happening in public schools but the private schools are not as good as we tend to think. This trend has affected students from private schools as well. Following the trend, we can safely assume, that the mentality of the society is still in the primitive era. We still judge a student by their obtained marks and not the knowledge and the skills they have.

Every student is different from another, that is why we need to approach every student differently. For this, we need to introduce interactive learning to make the students independent learners. Interactive learning is where students are encouraged to self-study by engaging the students in the lesson through interactive activities. In class, we only use pen and paper as a means to learn but interactive learning can involve computers, videos, speakers and projectors which could tap into the different sensory receptors of the student.

Even though we are aware of the negatives of rote learning, why is it still practiced?  There are many reasons why this is happening. One of the reasons is the limited resources and lack of awareness among teachers to be able to add interactive activities in the standard pedagogy for the students. However, interactive lessons do not necessarily have to be more costly. It usually requires a bit of effort and willingness to conduct a different, but a more engaging learning experience.

How can we practice interactive learning techniques? Learning shouldn’t just be limited to one form but must be fused with, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social and solitary learning styles.

We should all try to incorporate interactions between an adult and a child in order to enhance the quality of the learning material for the children. They should be excited to learn something rather than the feeling of being burdened when they come to class every day. Interactive learning could be any activity which involves participation from every child within the classroom. For instance, we could conduct interactive activities beyond the four walls of the classroom where children can learn while having fun. Some of these interactive activities are poem interpretations, video screening, ‘mero daar’(my fear), ‘Why I love my teacher’, board race and many more. All of these interactive activities aid the student in enhancing different skills.

Understanding the importance of learning, we should use it not only for an academic environment but for all learning experience so that together we can prepare today’s students for life.

Written by: Sabanam Thapa
Edited by: Hriya Kafle

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