RAISE North East launched in Nagaland today

The Regional Action on Inclusive Education (RAISE) North East, for providing holistic support to children with special needs, was today launched in Nagaland.
It is a project initiated to complement the programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on inclusive education to improve the quality of education for children with disabilities in government and government supported schools in selected districts of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura.
The project is supported by three international agencies - Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM), Light for the world and Liliane Fonds while 15 NGOs will implement the project in these five states of the region.
Formally launching RAISE Nagaland, Secretary to Government of Nagaland for Social Welfare Department, Dellirose M Sakhrie called upon the people not to discriminate people with special needs.

Pointing out that Nagaland has about 29000 people with special needs, she said that social stigma attached with disabled people should be done away.
It is not only the responsibility of the government but the society should also take the initiative towards empowering the people or children with special needs by providing education and help them live as responsible citizens, she said.

"Inclusive education is not the end, but inclusiveness of people with special need in the society should be achieved," she added.
RAISE NE Director Bibhu Dutta Sahu making an introductory note during the formal launching of RAISE in Kohima today stated that the main objective of RAISE is to provide a holistic development to the children with special needs.

The project will also focus on combating challenges such as changing the attitude of people towards children with disability, changing the attitude of stakeholders that are involved with children with special needs, he said.
Purnima Kayina, Administrator of Cherry Blossoms Society, which is the partner organization for RAISE in Nagaland, said that the Society will be providing technical support to selected government or SSA schools for inclusive education.