A not-for-profit organisation, Asmita functions as a day-care-cum-training and education centre for slow learners who fall in the grey zone between normal (IQ above 80) and the mentally challenged The modest single-storied exterior of the Asmita Centre for Slow Learners and Mental Health, Lucknow gives little indication of the pioneer role played by this institution which is North Indias first dedicated centre for educationally challenged learners (IQ 50-80), a numerically sizeable group that has been completely neglected by the countrys educational planners. Promoted by Krishna Dutt (55), a clinical psycho-logist trained at the Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, the centre is focused upon children who according to its estimate constitute 5 percent of the countrys child population (i.e. 22.5 million) and receive none of the attention that goes the way of the mentally challenged whose number is estimated at 10 million countrywide. Slow learner children fall in the grey zone between normal (IQ above 80) and the mentally challenged (IQ below 50). These children dont display overt behavioural abnormalities, but have to be repeatedly explained simple tasks and routinely fail in school despite studying committedly. Based on their IQ, they are divided into two groups. The first group with IQs between 50-70 can absorb primary education (up to class VII), while the second (IQ 70-80) can be educated to high school level (class X). These children, explains Dutt, are placed in a difficult situation. They cannot compete with normal children, yet if placed in special schools for challenged children, they suffer irreversible harm. Moreover according to Dutt, although children with IQs below 50 are classified as challenged requiring special education, there is a tendency to club them in the slow learners category due to the more politically correct connotations of the term. It is unfortunate that parents tend to delude themselves that severely challenged children are slow learners, he says. A not-for-profit charitable organisation, the Asmita Centre (estb. 1989) functions as a day-care-cum-training and education centre for slow learners. Within its five classrooms, two bathrooms and kitchen, 50 children between the age of five-15 learn the three Rs as well as ways to manage simple, everyday tasks, for seven hours every week day. A specially designed curriculum ensures that education is through play and experience rather than memorisation. Classroom content is divided into easily understood lessons with the institutional focus on developing specific abilities rather than multiple attainments. The centre also boasts a computer room with two terminals and a small auditorium, the latter a favourite with students who love singing, dancing and play acting. While there are no formal classes, based on their learning capabilities, children are divided into pre-primary, primary, secondary and final year groups. Dutt, who has emerged as a committed crusader for slow learners through staging seminars and workshops for parents and principals, believes this condition has only recently gained acceptance. While the Hindi feature film Taare Zameen Par has made a great contribution…
