Sports Day at Madhuram Narayanan centre

Children from mainstream schools participate in programme Cricketer Tinu Yohannan took the salute and distributed prizes.

TESTING SKILLS: Children of Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children participate in a sporting event on Friday at Bala Mandir in T. Nagar. — PHOTO: S. THANTHONI

CHENNAI : The annual sports day of Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children in T. Nagar on Friday last had participants from nearby mainstream schools Bala Mandir and the Little Flower Convent School for hearing and visually impaired children.The event drew 100 participants, including from the Maithree group of schools begun by parents of children who underwent early intervention programme at MNC. The event began with a march past and lighting of the torch. Cricketer Tinu Yohannan took the salute and distributed the prizes.

Among the events were competitions such as sack race that included a special child from MNC and another child from Bala Mandir.In the running race, a hearing-impaired girl child competed with a boy from MNC. The idea of including mainstream school children is to ensure that the special children do not miss out on opportunities offered to other children, said principal Vimala Kannan.

Over the past years, the school has developed outreach programmes to ensure that children who graduate from the 0-6 age group training programme continue their training even after leaving school. Special educators keep in touch with the students and parents to ensure that the children are trained to be self-dependent, said Jaya Krishnaswamy, who designs programmes for the children.Special educators Anindita Mukherjee and Sumithra Manoharan chronicle the progress of the children and hold workshops for parents of the special children and teachers from mainstream schools.This year the school will send 10 children into mainstream schools - mostly Montessori schools. Last year, seven children were sent to regular schools.