KOCHI: After almost two years of being forced to close down due to the Covid pandemic, district Kudumbashree Mission has given permission for revival of six more Buds schools.
These will come up in Kochi corporation, Kalamassery municipality, Edavanakkad, Varappuzha, Okkal and Thiruvaniyoor grama panchayats. The decision to grant permission was taken by the Buds district-level advisory committee under the district Kudumbashree mission.
At a meeting held recently, the district panchayat president handed over the certificates of approval to the local bodies. The state government had granted Rs 12.5 lakh for starting Buds schools in the financial year 2018-19.
As of August 2020, Ernakulam district had a total of 36 such institutions with 800 enrolled. This included 600 students above 18 years of age and 200 under the age of 18. Buds schools have been providing an opportunity to the mentally challenged children to have a school going experience in an inclusive atmosphere. These schools work as day-care centres as well as training centres for mentally challenged adult persons in the local areas.
When the Covid pandemic forced closure of the Buds and BRC (Buds rehabilitation centres) institutions, it led to a lot of hardships in families where the parents were unable to attend work because these students were at home.
Meanwhile, in an interesting concept of using agriculture and horticulture as a therapeutic relief for the differently challenged, the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) and Kottuvalli Krishibhavan started farming in the Koonammavu Chavara Special School.
The CTCRI team worked with the students in the four-acre farm of the students and introduced the concept of farming as a way to build self-confidence in the children. A variety of vegetables, ornamental plants, different types of tubers and different types of bananas will be cultivated, and a pond will be set up to create an integrated model by rearing fish, rabbits, goats, domestic birds such as chickens, ducks and geese. The school has started cultivating various varieties of sweet potatoes, varieties of underground tubers like purple yam, Chinese potato, tapioca, etc.
