History

In a meeting held at Bicholim, a surprising aspect was noticed: Bicholim and surrounding areas have a higher level of mentally challenged children. A primary survey revealed that there were over 300 special children in the rural region. Being a rural area, there was no schooling facility for those special children. The nearest special schooling available was at Sanjay School at Porvorim or Lokvishwas Foundation School at Ponda. These facilities were out of reach for the local students due to distance, inconvenience and expenses involved. In response, the socially sensitive citizens of Bicholim rose to the occasion with positive approach.

Mental retardation is a long lasting condition and NOT a disease.The subject can show remarkable improvement with help from parents, teachers and society to achieve confidence and a reasonable level of independence. Special schools do have a special role in alleviating the mental conditions along with appropriate medicines for physical and mental wellbeing. Specially trained teachers with compassion and commitment can certainly work miracles in the field of special education.

Old building

New building

An organising committee was constituted under the guidance of Dr. Guruprasad Kapadi, a prominent dentist from Bicholim and fund raising drive commenced. The school was established on the auspicious day of Vijayadashmi of 2004 with strength of 11 students at a place wholeheartedly offered by a well-wisher Shri. Sadguru Shetye. The work of special education is indeed challenging and also needs a lot of infrastructural support for providing medical facilities, implementing educational experiments, vocational guidance, self-help opportunities, and educating parents. The work was growing and a larger facility was needed. The tireless effort of the workers, loving parents and large hearted socially conscious donors were the main pillars of the mission. Shri Zantye Brothers stepped in at this juncture and graciously donated 2600 sq. meters of land. Enthused workers started work in full swing. It is noteworthy that garnering funds is no more challenging as it used to be in earlier times, when you have sincere and committed workers. The help started pouring in from all over. No wonder soon the Keshav Seva Sadhana (KSS) run special school was started with well equipped facility.

Every special child has some strengths. It is the trained teacher's acumen to identify them and make most of them so that the subject becomes more confident and is able to keep personal hygiene, do small chores, walk on the road safely, visit local shops, play simple games, make some articles and participate in social gatherings. Special children are taught games, physical exercises and yoga (pranayam) to improve physical and mental capacities. The parents' role in a special child's development is very critical. KSS Special School therefore conducts workshops for parents at the beginning of the academic year where they are fully oriented to the curriculum and methodology of the school. Regular workshops and training sessions are held between teachers and parents for more participation.

The KSS Special School has 162 students on roll for current academic year and is led by Principal Smt. Sanjana Prabhudesai with a dedicated team of 38 employees. The school is progressing well and has several achievements to its credit. In 2011, yet another special school was started at Valpoi. At the heart of our concept of a great nation lies the ability to perceive divinity in the common man. We are indeed inspired by this vision of seeking the divine in everyone around us as our mission.