Summers and graduations bring similar sentiments. Summers come after cycles of seasons and graduations after a few terms. Summers bring the heat, energy and light and graduation brings hopes, dreams and success.
The Summer of 2025, is setting in with warmth, and the students of BM-NMC – Bala Mandir Madhuram Narayanan Centre for Exceptional Children (a unit of Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust) graduated at the Moving Ahead ceremony. The event, held at the trust on Saturday, celebrated 14 students who graduated from the Early Intervention Services for Children with Intellectual Disability programme.
The students passed this programme and are confident, self-reliant and self-dependent today. From their first day at the centre until they were given their certificate, their path was steered by careful attention, instruction, and support from their families and teachers. “Graduation is an important step. It is the culmination of what the teacher, the parents, everybody has put in to bring the child to this stage. Now, the child gets ready to move to the next stage of their life,” shares Bharath Natarajan, member in charge and joint secretary for the Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust.
When the child enrolls in the centre, an Individualised Education Plan (IEP) is created. Bharath explains, “Each child is assessed on what their key strengths are. We don't see what the weaknesses are but try to build on strengths. Based on this, IEP is formulated and the core learning starts.”
In the training programme, titled ‘Upanayan’, the child is put into groups based on their age — zero to two years, two to four years, four to six years. “The child is put through different skill training programmes and each of them is monitored closely. The training includes a skill improvement programme, the cognitive programmes — recognition of names and products, mobility, therapeutic as speech and so on,” says Bharath.
Following this, the child and the plan are assessed every six months. The plan and the assessment results help the team form the end goal for each child. “We do this assessment and know exactly how the child is going to be in terms of behaviour, skills, etc,” he adds.
When the child completes the training programme and is ready, the institute puts them into special schools, or schools that are inclusive, or are sent to a pre-vocational training centre. This transition is ensured to be smooth. “A special team speaks to individual schools, principals and we also send our teachers to find out how the environment is so the students get the understanding,” he mentions. Similarly, after analysing, the 14 individuals are sent to various schools in and around the city. Of which, one is sent to Vidya Sagar school to pursue weaving.
Poonam Natarajan, founder and director of Vidya Sagar and the chief guest at the ceremony cheered the students and applauded the parents and teachers. She says, “Bala Mandir has also led the way in how the children are learning, studying and moving to other schools. This will help each child to find out, as they grow up, what they want to do.”
The students embarked on a new phase of their life with certificates in hand with determined eyes. This graduation was not only a significant event for Bala Mandir, but it also served as a reminder of their dedication to inclusive education, early intervention, and creating a future where every child dreams, chooses, and acts.