Hyderabad: “You can’t even spell this.” A teacher’s voice cuts across a classroom packed with students, followed by a ripple of laughter. The child doesn’t look up. A small mistake, maybe a reversed letter, but for the child the impact sticks. And the next day, the child gets quieter and by the end of the term, they stop trying altogether.It’s a familiar story across mainstream schools, where students with learning difficulties are often bracketed as outcasts and dismissed as too slow or disruptive to fit in.There is a glimmer hope to the gloomy situation in the form of Sahasra Centre for Learning, where mistakes like these don’t become labels. Children here are given space to learn, in their way.Management personnel, faculty members and children from the institute gathered at the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) in Hitec City on Friday to celebrate its 10th annual day.Starting with just three teachers and students in 2015, the institute has grown over the years and now caters to 55 students.The growth is not just in numbers but also in the range of services offered, including individual counselling sessions and half-day batches for toddlers. This year, 23 students appeared for their National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) exams, all securing first-class results, with one student scoring over 86 per cent in major subjects and topping the class.“This is a place where children transform into confident adults,” explained co-founders Suchitra Madan and C.S. Jagannath.Present at the event were Prachi Deo, founder and executive director of Nayi Disha, and Dr Geet Oberoi, founder of ORKIDS, New Delhi, both of whom have earned plaudits for working with special needs children with their pioneering efforts.Also present as a special invitee was Shivani Saripalli, Sahasra’s first student, who had struggled with dyslexia in an international school. Today she is an established UX designer. This is precisely what the institute strives to achieve.Students, who were on stage, poured their hearts into the celebration. There was yoga, graceful and steady, flowing into lively dance moves. It was followed by a drama that left everyone smiling.However, the crowd-pleasers were ‘Tara Rum Pum Pum’ and ‘Ah Tamatar Bade Mazedar’. “It takes a village to raise a child, they say. But I am an adult with ADHD, and my daughters have dyslexia and ADHD too. Yet, they are thriving, doing what they love. The point is, to let children be who they want to be. Don’t get bogged down by societal expectations. People will always have something to say,” said Dr Oberoi. The annual day, Jagannath explained, “gives each child an equal opportunity to shine, something many of them have never experienced before.”In mainstream schools, these children were often sidelined by indifference or academic pressure. “We’ve had parents tell us that their child was asked not to come on an annual day. Imagine the hurt,” Suchitra Madan recalled.The centre works with children who fall in the spectrum. Many struggled in mainstream schools, overwhelmed by academic pressure or isolated by their peers. Some were bullied. Others, like one bright, articulate student now in Class 11, simply couldn’t keep up with the rigid expectations. His words are thoughtful, his ideas clear. He loves cooking and dreams of studying culinary arts in France.“You know France is known for its baked products, like croissants,” he said in a clear and appropriately pronounced French. “He couldn’t spell or read when he first came to us, but he had so much potential. He just needed the right environment,” Suchitra shared.That has worked wonders because today, he’s quick to talk about baking techniques and hospitality courses.But it’s not just the students who grow here. Teachers like Dr Nidhi Pandey came to Sahasra as parents, looking for support. Her son, non-verbal when he joined, now communicates in single words. Nidhi stayed on to teach and train other children, watching her own son slowly come into his own.
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