Sukanya Venkatraman – Principal at Special School in Navi Mumbai

Behind every successful person there is hard work involved, there is honesty and commitment. Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan Centre for PWID is an organisation, everybody is proud to be associated with, and why not? Special children of this school show great results, they are always smiling, most of their needs are fulfilled, it is managed by team of dedicated staff and well wishers and is headed by Shirish Poojari and Sukanya Venkatraman.

Sukanya Venkataraman is the Principal of Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan, Centre for PWID at Belapur, CBD, Navi Mumbai.

“I have worked with sincerity and dedication all through out my life at SBP. I have seen the school grow and take a unique place in the community. I have always worked jointly with the management, staff and parents as I know we can never be successful working alone.” Says Sukanya.

Sukanya’s  journey in this Special field began all of a sudden when her father, who was working for Sri. S.K.Birla as his personal secretary, introduced her to a special school supported by them. There was a training going on during that time and since she had just completed her graduation, her dad felt that she could benefit from the training program.  “I was apprehensive,”she says,  “as I had no experience of ever being with people with special needs. But his words still ring in my ears, ‘Sukanya , I think you will do well in this field as  you are very calm and patient’. I have always trusted my father and with no other thoughts on my mind, I enrolled in the training program at Kolkata in the year 1987. Since then till now there has been no looking back as I realised that my father was right.” 

When she joined SBP in the year 1992 the post graduation course that she had done in Kolkata, was enough to handle the class and work as a teacher. In the year 1998 some rules were made mandatory by the Central Govt and all teachers were expected to enrol with the RCI. Her certificate course was not considered valid at that time hence she had to undergo a bridge course to get certified as a professional working in the field of special education. She realised that she had to keep herself updated with the latest techniques and that her certificates were not enough.  

In the year 2007 she enrolled in the BED correspondence course offered by MP Bhoj Open University and NIMH. She completed B Ed. in 2009. Feeling the need to understand and empower herself with organisational skills she joined the PG Diploma course in Education Management and completed  it successfully.  

Her main challenge was her inexperience and lack of confidence but when she began to work as a teacher at SBP, she learnt to take each day at a time and was not shy to ask for help when she did not know something .

“My mentor, Shirish Poojari, was always very patient with me. Her vision and dedication to the field motivated me to take her on as my role model. Best way of learning is by doing what we all did at SBP. We supported each other and gradually I gained confidence.” Says Sukanya. “In order to motivate others I needed to be motivated, it was difficult initially as I moved from the post of a teacher to the post of Principal. My own experience was limited. Thanks to Shirish who guided me in this journey. As I started assessing the work of the staff I noted many loopholes. After discussing with Shirish mam I took steps to fill those gaps. Another mentor Ms. Pranita also greatly helped me during this period. I learnt many things from her. I started implementing whatever I learnt from shirish, Pranita and from my collegues.” 

Sukanya joined SBP in the year 1992 and served till 2006 as a teacher. Since then she has been serving as the Principal of the school. She has completed 28 years of service.  

As a principal her challenges were different. She possessed good skill sets for a class teacher but lacked managerial skills. She was often indecisive. She could not take the right decisions at the right time. Often she depended on the opinions of others. The other main challenge as a Principal were her colleagues. The transition from teacher to principal was tough. Initially her staff did not take her seriously. But as she moved ahead steadfast with the support of all the Trustees, they took her more seriously. They started looking up to her for support.

But she realised that did not help her much. At that time, she got the opportunity to update her knowledge through PGDEM course at Jankidevi Bajaj institute of management studies, SNDT. She did the course with ten experienced people, most of them leaders or heads of organizations. Her time spent was worth while as their experiences and knowledge helped her a lot. 

“There was good sharing of ideas. This helped me a lot to gain confidence and also initiate new working strategies at school.” She says

She organised an annual planning workshop where she took the views of all staff members while planning the years' program. This was taken as a positive step that bridged the gap between her and the staff . “I was a good listener and was keen to listen to the problems of the staff even though I could not solve all their issues...but at least I had taken a step forward. We decided to elevate some senior staff members as coordinators. This helped motivate them to a great extent.”

As a Principal, she has good rapport with the parents of the children because she believes that they are the strong pillars of the school and that they have major role in training their children and also are important resources for the school.  

“Although sometimes they don't realise their worth, the institution can greatly use the knowledge and expertise of  parents instead of hiring people from outside to do a particular task.” She says  “First and foremost is openness, transparency and straightforwardness. The parent-staff rapport is very crucial for the organisation as it will either make or break it. We need to handle parents with delicate care, at the same time we have to be realistic too. We need to have very good understanding of their needs, strengths and weaknesses. All communication channels have to be kept open. We need to be open minded as sometimes parents are better teachers. We can learn from them. The school, teachers and parents have to build a strong foundation for the child to develop in to a productive citizen.”she emphasises

She would like more youngster to follow this teaching profession. “It will be wonderful to have youngsters take up this most challenging profession. They bring in new ideas and innovations and the field of special education will be much benefitted by new technologies and strategies. I would advise them to be bold  and follow their dreams. This field may not be rewarding in terms of money or position but what we get from the children and parents is unconditional. It leaves us with a feeling of satisfaction and self worth.”

Sukanya received the Best Teacher Award in the year 2009 from the District Social Welfare Department, Zilla Parishad Thane, for her dedicated service. For Sukanya,  job satisfaction is not in winning unlimited awards but in seeing the progress in her school“ Job satisfaction for me is when I see my students accomplishing even the most simple tasks. When I see them smile with confidence. When I see the parents empowered and taking a keen role in their child's development. When I see my confident staff take up challenging roles.” She smiles proudly. “As a Principal, pride is to see that my school is high on safety issues for the special children. I have an important job of empowering the staff and parents for sustaining the good work that the school has been putting in all these years.”

With her retirement round the corner, her main focus is to train and empower the senior teachers. She has started Staff Development programs, Parent Development programs and Training of the senior staff to develop organization skills. The most efficient and dedicated teacher will be given the baton to carry on the service and take up the post of Principal after her. She has taken the responsibility of training the teachers for managerial skills and will select only the best.  

“I will be retiring from the post of Principal in the year 2023 but I don't think I will ever retire from my service to Swami Brahmanand Prathisthan. I look forward to being in the  next project of SBP called Brahmagiri” she says

Parent – teacher relationship

Devang ties his shoelaces, looks for last time in the mirror, takes his school bag and walks down the stairs. His mom watches him from her balcony and waves good bye as she watches him disappear into the crowd. He walks down the narrow lane that is populated. There are shops on either side of the street. He stops at sweets shop and smiles at the shop keeper. He does not speak but the shop keeper understands his gestures and has known him for many years. He hands him one sweet without charging him for the same. Nibbling on the sweet he reaches the school bus stop and waits for the bus.

But he is five minutes too late. Not finding Devang at the bus stop, the bus driver had assumed that he won’t be coming to school.

Devang does not know that he has missed his school bus. He has no concept of time and he waits at the bus stop for five hours till the bus comes back after school hours and bus driver spot him at the bus stop and asks him to go back home. He is a special child. He suffers from Microcephaly, which is a medical condition in which the circumference of the head is smaller than normal because the brain has not developed properly or has stopped growing.

Both teacher and the mother did not worry about Devang because they were not aware that he was at the bus stop for five hours. Both did not know that he had missed his school bus.

This problem can be avoided if there is proper interaction between the parents and the class teacher. The teacher of a special child should be aware of the child’s problem and should find out why the child is absent from school before the school prayer assembly, preferably by making a phone call to the parents to ask the reason of his absence on that particular day.

Keeping and maintaining parent-teacher relationship is the first step towards progress of the child. Parents of the special child should be involved in child’s activities. All the activities that are carried out in school should be continued at home. A proper record of the child’s activities could be maintained by both, parents and the teacher, so that there is a follow-up. If the child is doing certain activity at school but is sitting idle at home, then the progress is slow. Most of the confrontations between parents and teachers result from lack of communication from school to home.

The parents can be informed about the classroom expectations for student’s behavior and work product. They can be informed about the daily schedules at school, what the management and discipline strategies used on each child and what progress has been shown by the child. It is important to keep the parent informed about the upcoming events, units and due dates. They can also be informed about the skills taught and the learning strategies used in the classrooms. This kind of information involves parents and keeps them updated about the child’s activities at school. If the parents have an email, teachers could regularly post information and keep them updated. If the child shows some unusual behavior at school, parents should be informed immediately so that problem can be detected and immediate attention could be given to child.

Interaction is very important between parents and teachers. Sometimes parents have one point of view while teacher have a different approach but to maintain a common harmony is what that determines the progress of the interaction. To create a positive interaction with the parents, it is important that teacher does not wait for the call but makes call regularly to build up the relationship. Talking in positive way, they can get the information from parents about the behavior of the child at home and his relationship with other family members, his likes and dislike, his preferences in his food habits, his relations with neighbors and all other details. The parents should also be given the liberty of communicating with the teacher when the need arises. When the parents know that the teacher has interest in their child she is likely to be more co-operative in positive discussions.

Knowing the child closely helps the teacher understand him better and this in the long run helps her in organizing the lesson plan for teaching him in the creative manner.

Special Education Careers

Opportunities are growing in the field of special education
By Jerry Webster

The career field of Special Education is made up of more than teachers, though they make up the largest group of professionals. Special Education professionals provide a whole range of services and support to children with disabilities, from mobility, feeding and hand over hand support to physical therapy. Preparation for these jobs can be on the job training for high school graduates to specific certification programs that require Master's or Doctoral degrees.

Job opportunities in special education:

Therapeutic Support Staff: Not all people who work directly with special education need to have a degree or certification in the field. Support staff, who work as "wrap arounds" or classroom aides, work directly with children but are not required to have college degrees or certification in special education. Some college can be helpful, and because support staff do not "take their work home"--ie. plan or write reports, it is often rewarding work with little stress. Some training may be required, but the district, school or agency who employs you will provide it.

The responsibilities of the classroom aides revolve around that single student. That child may have been identified as needing "wrap around" support because of emotional, behavioral or physical needs that require individual attention. They will see that the student stays on task, and that besides supporting the student in participating appropriately in class, they also sees that the student does not disrupt the educational progress of other students. They are often provided in order to help a student stay in their neighborhood school in a general education classroom.

Classroom Aides: Most school districts provide "para-professionals" who assist special education teachers by providing instructional support to individuals or small groups of students. Hired by school districts, they may require some college education. School district will hire classroom aides to assist special education teachers, occupation therapists or in full inclusion classrooms to provide support to students with disabilities. Classroom aides may be expected to provide toileting, hygiene or hand over hand support to children with more severe disabilities. Learning support children need less direct support: they need help completing assignments, checking homework, playing drill games, or working on spelling assignments.

Special Education Teachers: Teachers are required to have at least a special education degree from a college or university. Some states provide alternate routes to certification through post baccalaureate Masters Degree programs. Some states require Masters degrees. Another requirement since passage of the latest reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is that teachers are "Highly Qualified" which requires certification in another curricular field
Occupational Therapists provide services to children and adults with disabilities, or who have suffered from brain injury, stroke, severe injury or any other injury or life event that takes away a person's ability to perform everyday tasks. They help disabled individuals acquire skills they need to cope with everyday life or find employment. They teach dressing, feeding, shoe tying and help build fine motor skills needed for handwriting, typing and other tasks needed for school. In educational settings they also help with the sensory needs of children with autistic spectrum disorders.

Occupational therapists also support students and teachers with adaptive technologies, such as adapted spoons, weighted vests (for sensory integration.) adapted pencils, computer keyboards, and on and on.


Speech Pathologists/Therapists: Speech-language pathologists or speech therapists work with special education students to assess, diagnose and treat disorders related to speech, language, cognitive communication and fluency. Many years ago, speech therapists focused on speech articulation problems such as lisps, stuttering and difficulty with r's and t's. Speech-language pathologists now focus on language disorders that effect a child's academic and life-skill functioning. They focus on pragmatics (understanding language as communication,) receptive language, augmented communication, fluency and language production. As well as working specifically with children with language difficulties, they also work with children with developmental delays and other cognitive disabilities who have difficulty producing language, understanding language or communicating.

Physical Therapists: Physical therapists (PTs) help patients, including accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low-back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy, by providing services that restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities. They restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness and health. PT's also provide support for children with physical disabilities to help them with ambulation (walking or getting around in a wheel chair) and the other physical requirements of daily living.

Source :http://specialed.about.com/od/specialedcareers/a/careerspreparation.htm