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The Hitachi Municipal School for Disabled Children Visiting the school located in Ayukawa District the Taga High School, we the HYOTAN staff interviewed the principal and observed every class and all the facilities of the school. |
The principal said as follows: The teachers have a desire to guide the children to be able to live on their own. (There are 67 teachers and 7 volunteer helpers for the primary school section, the junior high school section and the high school section of the school) The school is equipped with an elevator for children in wheelchairs and is barrier-freer throughout its interior to a greater extent than any other school in Hitachi. One of the features of the school is to adopt frequent hands-on learning, for example, horse riding, bon-dancing, sightseeing, depositing money in a post office, going to and from the school without assistance, on-the-job training (for high school students), etc. There are 91 different curriculums for 91 disabled children. Disabled children mirrors the adults and the circumstances around them, because they donft judge but accept the world around them. So it is necessary to change those surroundings, for example, even their parents, so as to enable the children to function normally in their local community. Foreigners who have registered in Hitachi City can apply to send their children to the school. Autistic children, however, usually go to regular schools. Only one or two out of one class of about 10 children can get a regular job for non-disabled persons. There is now only a very small need for disabled people in the workplace because of recent economic depression in the business world. We visited 18 classrooms (9 in the primary school section, 5 in the junior high school section, and 4 in the high school section) and several rooms such as the music room, the cooking room, the art room, and the library. Every room was bright and tidy and the children were lively except one or two who were in a bad mood that day. Each child has a different handicap and must be taken care of in a particular manner specified for each child. This is why 67 teachers and 7 volunteers are necessary. However this is still not sufficient for 91 children. There were traffic signals along the path between the gymnasium and the entrance so as to train the children to observe traffic rules on their way to and from the school. We happened to be in the school when they had an earthquake drill there. The children wearing protective hoods over their heads were guided by their teachers. They completed their drill slowly but in good order according to the instructions of the school public address system. I saw a girl with a handicap in her hip joint at a class in the primary school section. To my surprise, she was the same girl who until she was 6 years old, had attended a nursery school where one of my grandsons is still attending. She looked like she had a stronger hip joint than before judging from the stability of her walking. She was definitely getting more accustomed to the surroundings thanks to the right training by the right trainer. And I was urging her to keep trying in the depths of my heart! (Top of Hyotan) (home) |