Aluva Blind School’s new disabled-friendly park hopes to make school more fun

The Aluva Blind School in Kochi recently opened an exclusive park for disabled children at their campus in Aluva. For the 57 students who are residing there and pursuing their studies, this park is all about fun and excitement after school.

Recently, Chennai and Visakhapatnam civic bodies announced opening of parks for disabled children. Their initiatives received a lot of applause from the disabled community. Taking cue from this, the Aluva Blind School in Kochi has opened a new exclusive park for disabled children of the school. This park can only be accessed by children at the blind school. But they have many disabled friendly features using which visually impaired children can play to their heart’s fill.

An exclusive park for blind school students

For over 57 students at the school, this park is all about fun and excitement. Most of the students have not even visited a park due to inaccessibility. Since many students are residing at the school, after class hours are going to be spent at the park now.

Jiji Varghese, Headmistress of Aluva Blind School has been quoted saying to The New Indian Express, “We have students from nursery to class 7 staying here for studies. With the park coming up, students can’t wait to go out and enjoy whenever they get a break time. Though many are visually impaired, they manage to climb the playthings with a little help. It sharpens their focus and helps mental stability, thereby changing their life, filling it with hope. It is an attempt to make them feel normal, like anyone else”.

Many facilities at the park

This new park is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of the Cochin Shipyard. Reportedly, they have spent over 15 lakh rupees for the venture. Most of the equipment are for playing and learning new things as well. The officials at blind school hopes that the equipment available at the park will help to enhance physical and mental well-being of the children. The learning process will mainly be through touch and feel. Moreover, they have all the freedom to walk, jump and play in a safe environment.

The park has 3D maps of Kerala, India and world. There are tactile eclipse boards, trampolines and walking machines too. The large abacus model and a clock with needles will help the children to learn numbers. A ball pool has also been installed to increase muscle fitness of the children, especially those who have cerebral palsy.

Appreciating the effort, Husna Ameen, who is a visually impaired computer trainer from Kerala says to NewzHook. “The blind school students had even released a song related to this. This is indeed a great effort. There were times when I have thought if there was a tactile device, I could have read articles with more speed. Tactile plus hearing is always a great learning experience. The other facilities introduced at the park are also great”, says Husna.

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