Gulshan Joggers Society has donated Tk 10 lakh to the Society for the Welfare of the Intellectually Disabled (SWID) Jhalakathi branch school, an educational institution for children with special needs.
Mohd Noor Ali, chief advisor of the society and managing director of Unique Group, formally handed over the donation cheque to the headmaster of the school, Lutfun Nesa, at the Gulshan Joggers Society premises in Dhaka on Friday.
Gulshan Joggers Society’s Advisor Amal Poddar, Vice President MA Kamal, General Secretary Saiful Kabir Ripon, former General Secretary Nasimul Haque Nasim, Publicity and Public Relations Secretary Sagir Ahmed Majnur, and members Commodore Bipan Kumar Saha and Syed Rezaul Hossain Kazi Reza were, among others, present on the occasion.
During the programme, Mohd Noor Ali said, “Today is a special day for the Gulshan Joggers Society. During our visit to this school in Jhalakathi, we saw that the children are being taught in a congenial environment.”
He added that the head teacher of this school has contributed a lot to the establishment and management of the school.
Mohd Noor Ali further said the affluent people should come forward to help children with special needs. He also urged the authorities concerned to bring the school under the MPO scheme.
He also objected to such educational institutions being called schools for the intellectually disabled.
“They are not mentally handicapped but special children. Calling them intellectually disabled is hurtful. It should be called a special school for special children,” he said.
School’s headmaster Lutfun Nesa said, “I am overjoyed that many kind-hearted people are here to support the children with special needs. As a mother of a special need child myself, this is a special moment for me.”
She said currently 209 children are studying at the school. The school received recognition from the Ministry of Social Welfare in 2015, but it is still not included in the MPO list.
