The endeavour of Akshar Trust is to enable the individual with hearing impairment to have a useful, happy and fulfilling life.

Children with hearing impairment deserve a sound academic environment which will prove to be their opportunity, perhaps their only opportunity, for a life of self-reliance and dignity.

Akshar Trust, Baroda, was established in 1988 to:

1. provide education and care to hearing impaired children and guidance to their families,
2. conduct research, investigation and experiments in education of hearing impaired children, and
3. train teachers of the hearing impaired.

Akshar Trust runs Akshar Centre for Hearing Impaired Children and Teacher Training Programme D. Ed. SE (HI).

Many of our earliest children have gone on to finish their graduate and post-graduate studies from the MS University of Baroda. Manisha Sindkar got 53 % in M.Com and has been absorbed in the ONGC as Accountant while Kanaka Bhat has recently finished her M.Com with 58 % and worked with an export house. Presently she is married and the mother of a 2 year old daughter.

The Centre started with 5 children and has now expanded to a regular school with 144 children, who are taught in 2 mediums - Gujarati and Hindi. The aim is to give them an education in their mother tongue. (One must remember that for a hearing impaired child, only a single language is preferred.) Our curriculum follows that of the Gujarat Board but we are adapting the text books since our children's needs are different. We take in children as young as possible. Our youngest child has been 12 months old. This is essential for hearing impaired children as the years 0-3 are the period of optimum learning. Intervention at this stage gives the child a head start. The Early Intervention (Infant) Programme includes regular parent-teacher meetings, informal discussions and home visits. Parents are counselled about the implications of the impairment, the educational alternatives available and the manner in which they can most ably assist their child.

No hearing impaired child is refused admission. Even children with problems in addition to hearing impairment are admitted. All children come dressed in the prescribed uniform. The workday is divided into class periods including co-curricular activities such as karate training, art and hobby classes. We deal extensively and daily with amplification devices like hearing aids, group hearing aids, and speech trainers. Once we find a child with us who is ready for integration into a regular school, we try to mainstream him/her into that school. This is our Integration Programme. The child then studies and grows up with 'hearing' children and learns to adjust and operate in the 'hearing' world. However, the child also continues to come to the Centre for speech and language therapy. We have integrated a number of our children in this way.

In the school, the children are divided into three houses - Nehru, Gandhi, Tagore - which compete fiercely for honours on the Sports Day and the Annual Day each year! Our children also actively participate in city level dance, drama, painting and performance competitions throughout the academic year, often winning prizes (they bagged the Jagdish Kaur Chawla Rolling Trophy of SOCLEEN for Inter-School Street-Play Competition, 2001) competing with 'hearing' children in their age group.

The District Administration has given Akshar Trust a 10,000 sq mt plot on the outskirts of the city. Architectural drawings for the planned facilities are ready. These include:

We are also planning to set up a cell to work on the making of solar-powered low-cost batteries for hearing aids so that these become affordable for even the economically weak. This facility would be planned along with a low-cost mould-making facility, since the growing child's ear size changes and the moulds need to be changed accordingly for the proper working of the hearing aids. An in-house facility like this would be a great help in the independent functioning of the institution.

One of the Trust's long-range plans is to extend our work to rural areas where the need is even more acute. This would include identification of hearing impairment, fitting of low-cost hearing aids, and the training of mothers with hearing impaired children.

With the new campus planned for Akshar Trust on the land given by the Government, generous donors will be acknowledged at the building. This will be in the shape of nameplates at the entrance of the particular facility.

The Akshar Trust is a not-for-profit, voluntary, secular organisation. It is registered with the Charity Commissioner, Baroda, under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. It is also recognised by the Director of Social Defence, Government of Gujarat. All donations to the Trust are exempted under section 80 (G) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

With prior appointment, you are most welcome to visit our Centre.

Please contact:
Nisha Grover
Managing Trustee
Akshar Trust
11th Floor, Kirti Tower
Next to Kirti Mandir
Tilak Road
Vadodara 390 001 (Gujarat)
India
Phone: +91-265-2427522, +91-265-2427544
Phone (Centre): +91-265-6458117
Fax: +91-265-2427599
Email: akshartrust@gmail.com

Dr. Paul Miller, a researcher at the Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Israel was invited to present 2 research papers on "Addressing the Reading Difficulties of Children With Hearing Impairment" and "Relation Between Pre-lingual Hearing Loss, Communication Mode and Reading" at the conference.

Two of our senior students completed M.Com from the M.S. University of Baroda many years ago. At the moment, one student is in the Fine Arts Faculty, one is in B.Com. and one has joined the Department of Family and Community Sciences, M.S. University of Baroda. Almost all these children have been with us since their childhood. They were all in the Early Intervention Programme. It is a specially designed programme as the aim is to make the child acquire language and speech skills so that s/he is a part of the community.

This year 55 students of Sr. KG. and Std. 3 (Gujarati and Hindi Medium) and Std. 4 (Gujarati Medium) went for a picnic to 'Revati Garden' on 23rd December, 2009.

• Ms. Dolcy Simon Dy. Director and Mr. Dhirubhai Patel a member of the allocation committee from United Way of Baroda visited Akshar Centre.
• Mr. Manish Kulkarni, from Siemens Ltd. came to take ear mould impressions of 5 students. Extra 2 children's impressions were also taken.
• 8 students of Std. 2 & 3 (Hindi Medium) went to see a 'Police Station' at Laheripura Gate. They were accompanied by Ms. N. Mazumdar & Ms. M. Gaikwad.
• 12 students of Std. 3 (Gujarati Medium) went to see a 'Police Station' at Leheripura Gate. They were accompanied by Ms. T. Shah & Ms. M. Gaikwad.
• 'Baroda Ladies Circle-76' Baroda donated 65 umbrellas to students of Sr. KG. to Std. 6 Ms. Mona Bhatnagar, Ms. Nirali Shah with other members had come.
• Mrs. Lakhwani, Palak's mother, donated 74 numbers of pencil-cells for the children who are using Pocket model hearing aids.
• 40 students of Sant Kabir School visited the Akshar Centre. They interacted with the children
• Elections were held for Head Girl, Head Boy and Captain of Nehru House, Gandhi House and Tagore House.
• Professor Dr. Janet Wilson, Dr. Lisa Smith Asst. Dean, School of Arts, University Founder Trustee of Bhasha Research Centre visited.
• 22 students of Std. VII to XII were invited by Gen. Harkirat Singh, Commandant of the EME School for a Football Match. They were accompanied by Mr. P. Rathod and Mr. V. Baria; snacks were served to the students.
• 35 students of Std. 5 to 12th participated in 'Prerna 2009 the Emancipation' organised by students of Faculty of Technology and Engineering. They took part in Carrom, Rangoli, Painting, Pot Designing, Mehandi and Glass Painting; 4 students got prizes
• Ms. N. Grover and Ms. K. Thakkar attended the Annual Gen. Meeting of Baroda Ladies Circle-76 at WelcomHotel.
• Ms. N. Grover was invited by 'Ekansh', a NGO in Pune, working toward the goal of inclusion and better amenities for the disabled and elderly, for a 2 day conference, "No Disabilities, Infinite Possibilities", to present a paper on 'Inclusive Education'.
• 22 Students of Gujarati & Hindi medium Std. 3 visited Jubilee Baug, to study different kinds of trees. They were accompanied by Ms. T. Shah and Ms. N. Mazumdar.
• Election was held for Vice Captains to help the Captains of the school..!!
• 5 students - Lay Gandhi, Khushbu Rajput, Ahedia Kureshi, Rinkal Parikh and Nishang Panchal received SIEMENS BTE Hearing Aids donated by Samaj Kalayan Trust. Parents were counseled on the use and maintenance of these hearing aids.
• Mr. Paul Mason of Paul Mason & Company, U.K. based IT company, visited Akshar Trust with 35 staff members of P.M.C. Consultancy. They donated 2 Computers, 16 Boxes of Pencils and a Student Management Software System for the hearing impaired students. This will help to manage students history and data more effectively.
• 32 students of E.I, Std. 3 Hindi & Gujarati medium, Std. 5 Gujarati medium went to Kamati Baug to see different kinds of animals and birds.
• Teachers Day was celebrated on 8th September, 2009. Senior students played the part of teachers in various classes from 9.30 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.
• 13 students of Std. 7 and 8 Gujarati medium and Std. 8 Hindi medium were invited by the Commandant of EME School, Maj. Gen. Harkirat Singh, to see a Volleyball Match at EME school. They were accompanied by Mr. K. Thakkar & Mr. P. Rathod. Snacks were served to the students.
• Ms. Neelam J. Patel, student of Nagar School of Optometry, conducted screening of eyes of all the students. 25 students had eye problem. They were advised to go for further checkup at the clinic.
• Mr. Manish Kulkarni, from Siemens Ltd., came to take ear mould impressions of 5 students. Extra 2 children's impressions were also taken.
• Urmi School organised a 'Drawing Competition' for special children. 17 students took part in it. They were accompanied by Ms. S. Gupte & Ms. P. Shah.
• Ladies of 'Baroda Ladies Circle-76' visited the centre. They donated 1000 Panasonic Gold Plus (Pencil Cells) to the school for the students. They adopted one child, Vishakha Kharva, for one year.
• 12 students of Std. 5 Gujarati medium and Std. 6 Gujarati and Hindi medium went for 'Garba' at 'Bal Bhavan' in the evening after school with their parents.
• Akshar Centre organised Garba for the students. The girls came in colourful Chaniya-Cholis and the boys came in colourful Jhaba-Pyjamas. The teachers too played garba with the students. All enjoyed it!
• Mook Badhir Mandal organised a Rally for 'World Deaf Day' from Nazarbaug (Mandvi) to Sayajigunj Sardar Statue from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. 4 students took part in it. They were accompanied by Ms. T. Shah, Mr. K. Thakkar and Ms. P. Kayastha.
• Vadodara Marathon 2009 organised World's Longest Canvas Painting for school children on 2nd October, Gandhi Jayanti. It was 3.5 km long canvas placed on poles, shaped like Lotus. This was an attempt to enter the "Guiness Book of World Records" Children were given acrylic colours and brushes. They were given the topic "Traffic". 29 students took part in it.
• 10 students of Std. 12 Commerce Gujarati medium were invited by Paul Mason Consultancy, a software company to see their office at Subhanpura. They were accompanied by Ms. N. Grover and Ms. A. Dalal.
• 12th October 2009 was the last working day of the first term. Children came in colorful dresses. There was a Rangoli competition, Painting competition and Mehandi competition.

The Teacher Training Programme entered its 10th year in 2009. The new session started from June 2009. Till date 151 teachers have been trained by the Teacher Training Programme.

Principals and Vice principals attended the programme. Lectures, Demonstration and Group Discussion were done in the programme. A Valedictory function was organised at the end of the programme.

CORE AND VISITING FACULTY

• Ms. N. Grover was invited by National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad as a Consultant. They needed guidance. They have 4 hearing impaired students in their institution.
• Ms. K. Thakkar attended United Way's meeting on 'Forum on Disability'. A discussion on celebration of World Deaf Day was done.
• Continuing Rehabilitation Education programmes are organised by Akshar Trust for special educators to upgrade their knowledge and skills. A CRE programme was conducted by Akshar Trust from 16th to 18th November, 2009. 30 Special Educators from in and out of Gujarat participated.

Among The Visitors from January 2007 were:

• Dr. J.P. Singh, Member Secretary, Rehabilitation Council of India from New Delhi.
• An Accreditation Team comprising of Dr. R. R. Kanaujia, Ms. Varsha Gathoo, President of NCED, Ali Yavar Jung, National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped and Ms. Saraswathi Narayanswamy, Hon. Director of Balvidyalaya, Chennai.
• Mr. & Mrs. Daxesh Patel, USA, parents of Manan, an ex student
• Mr. P. Nagpal, Mr. S. Paul and Ms. Gazala Sheikh, from Siemens.
• Mr. Vijay and Deepa Chowgule, Goa.
• Ms. Archana Patel from Bharuch.
• Ms. Suman Nehra, wife of the District Collector, Mr. Vijay Nehra.
• Mrs. Neela Makrand Desai.
• Mr. Jitendra Joshi - Administrative Officer, Nagar Prathmik Shikshan Samiti, and Mr. Rajesh Parikh, Corporator.
• Ms. Monica Punjabi Director, Indian Sign Language Dept., Indore, Mr. Virbhrasing Rathod and Mr. Rajesh Ketkar (members Mook-Badhir Mandal)

Well wishers of the centre donated snacks, stationery and furniture for the children.

Admissions open for the new academic year.
For the Admission Forms contact at the following Email Address: akshartrust@gmail.com