District Level Literary Competition for the Differently – Abled – Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Report on District Level Literary Competitions for the Differently-Abled.

Faculty of Disability Management and Special Education (FDMSE), Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Coimbatore Campus organized District Level Literary Competitions for the Differently Abled in commemoration of 131 st Chicago Address of Swami Vivekananda on 24.08.2024 (Saturday) at FDMSE premises.

Students with special needs from various special and inclusive schools participated in the programme. The events included Speech competition for students with visual impairment, Sign language and drawing competition for students with hearing impairment, and drawing and colouring competition for students with intellectual disabilities.

The inauguration programme started with prayer song at 10:00 am and after lighting the kuthuvillakku, orientation about the competition was given by Dr.S.Parween, Assistant Professor and Head, Division of Visual Impairment and Hearing Impairment, FDMSE-RKMVERI. During the inaugural address, Swami Buddhidanandaji Maharaj, Assistant Administrative Head, RKMVERI, Coimbatore campus motivated the students with special needs to take part in the competitions. Dr. N. Muthaiah, Dean, School of Rehabilitation and Sports Science, FDMSE- RKMVERI presented special address.

The competitions were held at various venues from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm. Total number of 101 students with special needs (schools students – 77 and college students – 24 from Coimbatore, Chennai and Thuthukudi districts) participated in the programmme. A total of 19 educational institutions (13 general and special schools and 6 higher education institutions) took part in the events. The events included speech competition for students with visual impairment, sign language and drawing competitions for students with hearing impairment and colouring and drawing competition for students with intellectual disabilities. In this competition, 15 students with visual impairment (7 girls and 8 boys) 48 students with hearing impairment (30 girls & 18 boys) and 38 students with intellectual disabilities (14 girls & 24 boys) participated.

The details of the competitions are given below:

S.No	Competition	Type of Disability	Category	Theme
1	Speech Competition	Students with Visual Impairment	Category I – 6^th – 8^th Standard (English & Tamil) Category II – 9^th to 12^th Standard Category III –UG & PG Level (English & Tamil)	Swami Vivekananda’s ideas on Education Three teachings of Swami Vivekananda – I like the most Indian youth and Swami Vivekananda
2	Sign Language Competition	Students with Hearing Impairment	Category I – 8^th to 10^th Standard Category II – 11^th & 12^th Std and UG Level
3	Drawing Competition	Students with Hearing Impairment	Category I – 8^th to 12^th Standard	Science and Spirituality – Swami Vivekananda’s Vision
4	Drawing Competition	Students with Intellectual Disability	Category I – Secondary Level (11 to 14 years)	Natural Scenery
5	Colouring Competition	Students with Intellectual Disability	Category I – Secondary Level (11 to 14 years)	Natural Scenery

A panel of judges evaluated the performances of the participants and accordingly best performers were selected from the respective category of each competition. Swami Garishthanandaji Maharaj, Administrative Head, RKMVERI, Coimbatore campus witnessed the competitions and blessed the participants. Shri.S. Chandramohan, District Disabled Rehabilitation Officer, Coimbatore District also visited FDMSE and interacted with children with disabilities.

In the valedictory function, 10 th Issue of Braille magazine ‘Wonders of Touch’ in which the content contributors are Children with Special Needs was released by Revered Swami Buddhidanandaji Maharaj, Assistant Administrative Head, RKMVERI, Coimbatore campus. Twenty six winners of various competitions received a Cash prize of Rs.1500/-, Rs.1000/- and Rs500/- and Certificate of Awards for the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd positions respectively. The Participation Certificates were given to all other participants who participated in the competitions.

Lunch was provided to all the participants (101) and their escorts (46) (In-charge Teachers and Parents). The event ended successfully with blessings of Holy Trio.