Children with diverse needs are amongst the most vulnerable sections of students affected by the pandemic. Generally facing multiple challenges and exclusion in education infrastructure, there challenges magnified during the pandemic. The schooling and learning deficit experienced by the children with special needs has become wider during the pandemic.
As schools are slowly opening across the globe, the need to address the issues faced by children with diverse needs has become more imminent. The importance of addressing the basic biological and physiological needs of the learners cannot be ignored. Only if the student is happy and feels safe, then only any form of learning can take place. As learners come back to school, it is very important to be attentive to children’s behavior and provide them with timely support and extra guidance along with seeking professional help if required.
The pandemic not just affected the physical health of the people, but also the mental and emotional health of the people across the world. It is extremely important to meet the students where they are and address the trauma they have been through. We also need to address who they are as students and humans and where they are as learners, then move forward. Only then we can gradually set them up to be successful at school.
Rashmi Patankar
Dept. In Charge-Counseling and Special needs
Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman