A ray of hope for spastic kids

CHENNAI: A ray of hope was provided for more than 350 spastic children as the Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu got equipment worth  Rs 7.50 lakh to train them in employable vocation.The equipment, which was donated by the State Bank of India, Chennai through its general manager S A Thimmiah as part of Children’s Day celebrations, will help train differently-abled students in the age group of 14 to 18 to get jobs.The Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu plans to develop a comprehensive five-year competency-based transition curriculum model, titled Project Able @WOW, that will provide a transition pathway for differently-abled students.After the curriculum, the students will get on the job training and work experience in the fields of food and beverages, hospitality services and environmental services, paving the way for their gainful employment, said SBI spokesman S Sridharan.The training provided by  the Spastics Society is akin to the West where the differently-abled are given vocational jobs in five-star hotels, coffee shops.Thimmiah said that it was a well-thought-out plan by the Spastics Society as education alone was not enough to empower the differently abled. Vocational training was also required to train them for taking up jobs. The donation of equipment is part of the corporate social responsibility of State Bank of India.