BACKWARD CHILDREN The possible causes for turning a child into backward may be divided into two broad

categories - internal, lying within the individual and/or external, lying in his environment. (1) Causes Lying within the Individual Child: The child may become backward on account of the factors or things lying within his body structure as: I. hild may have poor health or suffer from physical ailments and chronic diseases etc., and it may obstruct him to harness the actual potential of his natural abilities. II. hild may suffer from some bodily defects like defective vision, faulty hearing, speech defects, left handedness etc. These defects or improper functioning of the body organs, particularly connected with sense organs, may prove a stumbling block in attaining what could have been otherwise expected from him. III. hild may not be utilising his intellectual powers like power of concentration, reasoning, thinking, observation and imagination etc., as he should otherwise do for actuali!ing his basic potential on account of some defects in his brain system or its functioning or on account of some emotional and psychological pressure generated as a result of his personal and social malad"ustment. ( ) Causes Lying in the Envi!"n#ent The external environment may also force the child to turn into backwardness like: (a) De$e%tive H"#e Envi!"n#ent& The uncongenial and improper environment prevailing in a family or home has a negative force in the educational progress of a child. #uch negative factors present at one$s home may be termed as: I. Tensions, conflicts and %uarrels at home between the parents and among the members of the family. II. Improper behaviour with the child due to over protection, negligence, "ealousy, rivalry etc. III. &oisy environment and inade%uate physical facilities for the study. I'. (overty, illiteracy and intellectual inferiority of the parents or guardians. '. )ver engagement of children in household activities or family occupation. (b) De$e%tive '%h""l Envi!"n#ent

onditions prevailing in the school with regard to men and material facilities and the child$s ad"ustment to the available school environment contribute much in the attainment of what is allowed to the child by his natural abilities. The adverse and unfavourable conditions and improper environment lead the child to educational backwardness. These unfavorable conditions and factors may be of the following nature: I. *ack of discipline and poor administration. II. *ack of trained and %ualified teachers. III. *ack of material facilities like as of accommodation, furniture, library, laboratory, teaching learning aids and e%uipments, and other things helpful for co- curricular activities. I'. +efective inter-personal relationship among the staff members and students. '. *ack of proper guidance and counselling services. 'I. +efective curriculum, uninteresting and wrong methods of teaching and lack of proper ,voluation system. 'II. Indifference or improper behaviour of the teacher. 'III. *ack of proper attention for the regular attendance and supervision of the drill and homework. (c) (the! Negative '"%ial In$luen%es -part from the defective home and school environment there may be other negative influences and undesirable forces present in the surrounding school environment of the child. .e may have an adverse and unfavorable neighborhood, evil company of the playmates and other members of the society and day-to-day %uarrels and disturbances perturbing his peace of mind he may be tempted by what is available in his social environment and may pick up bad habits like smoking, playing cards, gambling, taking drugs, reading improper and cheap literature, seeing too much movies, playing truancy at the school hours and watching excessive T.'. etc. -ll these things, perpetuated by the negative environment influences, are %uite forceful to affect the whole life style of an individual child including ways of thinking, motivational process and habits of work and studies. These may divert his attention towards undesirable social activities in place of school studies and thus prove a potent cause for putting the child into educational backwardness.

Re#edial )!"g!a##es "$ Edu%ati"n $"! Ba%*wa!d Child!en /emedy and treatment of backwardness is always dependent u+"n the nature and extent of backwardness present in a particular child and the diagnosis of the probable causes for such backwardness. hildren may differ in terms of the nature, extent and possible causes of their backwardness0 therefore it is unwise to plan for any uniform remedial education for all of the backward children. ,very case of backwardness must be treated as a uni%ue case and therefore tackled with specific individual care and attention depending on the nature and causes of backwardness. *et us illustrate some such remedial measures. 1or the cases where backwardness is caused on account of some specific physiological and sensory defects, the remedy lies in the proper rectification of these defects, for example a child suffering from defective eye sight, speech or hearing impairment may be properly treated for overcoming these defects. 1or the cases where defective home environment plays a role in making a child backward, it may need the counseling of the parents or members of the family or placing the child into a suitable environment providing desired love, affection and security or providing necessary economic help, social and emotional support to the child and members of the family. ,vil effects of the neighborhood and other social agencies need also to be checked. It should be well cared that the child should not fall prey of the bad company and unsocial elements. In case he becomes a victim, then effort should be made to get him freed from the evil influences. #chool environment should also be so designed as to help the child in his proper ad"ustment. 2ost of the backward children are often victims of what goes inside the school. are for making environment of the school %uite healthy and congenial for the task of effective teaching and learning by taking due notice of the cases of indiscipline, truancy and non-attendance. (rovision of maintenance of proper progress record and keeping the students and parents informed about the same. 3esides above mentioned remedial measures the teacher should, keep in mind the following remedial measures also: 1& 'h"!t and 'i#+le ,eth"d "$ Inst!u%ti"ns ,ducationally backward children re%uire short and simple methods of instructions based on concrete living experiences with concrete materials.

'erbal instructions must be reduced excursions, play activities0 dramati!ation or even games should be introduced specially for these children. & Retenti"n "$ 'el$-C"n$iden%e .abits of success must be developed if the child is to retain the self-confidence which is so vital for him/her. The teachers should lead him/her very slowly, making sure that each step is thoroughly mastered before the next is introduced. .& )a!ti%i+ati"n in E/t!a%u!!i%ula! A%tivities The educationally backward children should be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities of the school according to their interests and abilities. 0& Individual Attenti"n Individual attention should be paid to such matters as health, social conditions, while teaching in the class. #o also, there must be more of individual instruction than is necessary for normal children. 1& Desi!ed (ut%"#es ,ust is *n"wn The desired outcomes should always be kept in mind. Interesting but important matters may be given brief attention0 more energy should be expended on that which is important and essential. ertain abstract technicalities which characteri!e each sub"ect should be excluded for the backward child. 2& 'ti#ulati"n "$ All 'enses The class work must be stimulating to all the sense organs. The class teacher should seek the help of specialists, if possible, to remedy the defects of speech, hearing and sight. 3& 4ea%he!5s )atien%e The teacher must have great patience and a firm determination, never, to be discouraged while at the same time recogni!ing the child$s limitations. 2oreover the teacher must respect the child. If the teacher looks down upon the child as being inferior since the latter will not attain as the average child can, then the teacher cannot give the child what he/she needs and is likely to be doing her/him real harm. - backward child needs praise, continuous help, sympathetic consideration of his/her difficulties and sustained interest on the part of his/her teacher 6& 7!ee Dis%i+line

In the education of backward children, discipline should be free as far as possible character training rather than mere intellectual tuition should be given greater importance than is actually given. 8& '+e%ial (!ganisati"n 4hen a number of backward pupils are found together, a class may be organi!ed specially for them. #ometimes such children may be retained longer in lower grade or may be specially sent to lower grade for learning skills which they lack. 19& 4i#e 4a:le and 'ylla:us In the time-table for the backward class, the old lines of demarcation between one sub"ect and another should be dropped or cut across. The syllabus, to a large extent, will have to be planned in terms of pro"ects rather than of sub"ects. The school should be so organi!ed that there is plenty of activity and reasonable freedom of movement of the backward pupils. 11& ,edi%al Che%* ;+ - special medical checkup should be arranged at the outset and facilities should be available for remedying the ailments or defects so discovered. 1 & '+e%i$i% Ba%*wa!dness 4!eat#ent In the case of specific backwardness in specific sub"ect area, remedial teaching has proved very useful. The co-operation of the specialists is highly necessary in dealing with specific backwardness. Thus, by means of systematic observation, and interviews with the parents and also by administering the tests, the child$s outstanding physical and mental characteristics should be examined0 and the analytical study will be followed by a comprehensive and synthetic study which aims at reconstructing a detailed character sketch of a child as a living, growing, conscious individual

3angalore: The #arva #hiksha -bhiyan 5##-6 is launching a remedial teaching programme to help children who have reading and comprehension difficulties. It will be launched in 78 educationally-backward districts of 9arnataka from &ovember, in association with -kshara 1oundation, and is intended to help about 7:,888 students, said ##- (ro"ect +irector *.9. -thee%. .e was speaking to presspersons on the sidelights of the launch of ; hili (ili heela<, a bag of language activity cards for children in III, I' and ' standards, designed by the &ational Institute of -dvanced #tudies 5&I-#6 and The (romise 1oundation after a year-long pilot study in hamara"anagar district.

2r. -thee% said that about =8 per cent of children in a class face reading and comprehension problems, and the ##- programme was targeted at them. The programme, which will use graded reading cards, will start in districts, including >ulbarga, 3idar, 9olar and hitradurga. #peaking earlier at the launch of ; hili (ili heela<, 2r. -thee% stressed the importance of integrating all supplementary reading programmes with the school curriculum, without undermining the existing textbooks. It is important, he added, to involve teachers in all such programmes and train them ade%uately and upscale such programmes in a sustained manner. There were lessons to be learnt from earlier supplementary reading programmes such as ;&ali 9ali<, 2r. -thee% said. +irector of &I-# 9. 9asturirangan, who released ; hili (ili heela<, said that &I-# was involved in several educational initiatives at the grassroots level. Though designed for specific cultural contexts, they were universally applicable in their spirit, he added. #onali &ag, -ssociate +irector of The (romise 1oundation, and -./. 'asavi of &I-# spoke about ; hili (ili heela< pro"ect and the +istrict ?uality ,ducation (rogramme for hamara"anagar. The launch was followed by a workshop to strengthen 9annada teaching in primary schools.