Ludhiana: Coming up is the first district-level Independence Day function when the children who can’t hear will present the national anthem in sign language and those who can’t see will sing it for the gathering. The hearing impaired students of Sarabha Nagar’s Red Cross School will join the visually challenged children from Haibowal Kalan’s Vocational Rehabilitation Training Centre (VRTC) in this achievement. These Red Cross schools have 15 children who can’t hear or speak, and 90 who can’t see, out of whom 12 will sing the national anthem and play musical instruments such harmonium and table, while 9 students who live with speech and hearing impairment will team to present the anthem in sign language.
They are being trained by Sarabha Nagar school’s expert head teacher Santosh Rani. She said: “This is their first chance to perform at such an important event. In my 24 years of service, this is the first occasion with the Ludhiana district administration has made them part of the event.
We have prepared a beautiful 52-second demonstration with two weeks of hard work.” She credits deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney with this idea of assembling special students for a musical performance. Rani said: “This opportunity to present the national anthem in sign language is a major step towards promoting inclusivity of the hearing-impaired students.
This exposure will also highlight the significance sign language. While the students spend an hour to two rehearsing, .