The Jumla Special Children Project (JSCP) supports deaf and hearing-impaired children in one of Nepal’s most remote regions.

Recognising the barriers faced by children with disabilities in accessing education, SDA established a specialised support programme that combines education, accommodation, and holistic development opportunities.

The project operates in collaboration with Karnali Secondary School and provides hostel facilities, educational support, sign-language-trained teachers, uniforms, stationery, health services, recreational activities, and life-skills development opportunities.

JSCP currently supports dozens of children and employs specialised teachers capable of communicating through sign language. The project also organises excursions, sports activities, health check-ups, and community engagement initiatives that promote inclusion and personal development.

By creating an accessible learning environment, JSCP helps children gain confidence, develop practical skills, and participate more fully in society.

The Jumla Special Children Project (JSCP) is dedicated to empowering deaf school children in the Jumla region by providing them with an accessible schooling environment. Given that Jumla is one of the most remote regions of Nepal, accessible education for persons with disabilities is a challenge. Addressing this need, SDA operates a hostel for hearing-impaired students in collaboration with Karnali Secondary School, Jumla, where a total of 38 children are currently enrolled. The JSCP children are provided a separate schooling environment for which SDA has maintained a JSCP Coordinator to oversee overall project operations, and four sign-language teachers.

Maintaining competent teachers who are proficient in sign language is one of the major successes of JSCP, as capable manpower is quite scarce in the Jumla region where the project is situated. The teachers are provided with a complete teaching-learning environment with all the required aids, sports materials to engage the children in holistic learning, as well as various excursion visits. Besides that, the project also provides room and board for the students, providing them with the necessary stationery, uniforms, and so on for a fulfilling educational experience. Supporting the JSCP hostel, SDA also maintains two helpers, or aaya, to maintain a clean hostel environment.

JSCP

Jumla Special Child Project (JSCP) of SDA supports deaf students with lodging, food, and studies in Chandanath Municipality ward no 2, Jumla. Additionally, SDA provides pedagogical support to more than 40 deaf children in Karnali Secondary School, Anamnagar, Jumla, under JSCP.

Major Activities

SDA supports the students with required school materials such as bags, uniforms, stationeries etc. The availability of uniforms for the students means they all are in similar-looking clothes, so there is no more feeling of inferiority among them.

JSCP students get supported with sanitary materials for their hygiene. The students also receive first aid and other safety materials from SDA as required. The JSCP team takes the students on tour every year for recreational purposes, which helps refresh their minds and perspective.

JSCP gets aid for sports materials which has been beneficial since the students have shown keen interest in different kinds of games such as football, volleyball, cricket, badminton, and chess, and play very well too. The availability of sports materials has assured the children of winning titles among all, in various competitions organised by schools and others.

The students engage in social work sometimes, where they clean the hospital and school premises from time to time.

Different meetings get held to discuss deaf children’s studying process with SA/GA, SDA, JSCP staff, the District coordination committee, District Education coordination unit, District Administration office, SDA, disabled organisation and Karnali Secondary School.

With the aid from SDA, JSCP has facilitated the students to use the laptop since they have the computer course in the lower secondary level.

Every three months, children under JSCP get their health checked. An agreement signed with the Karnali Academy of Health Science (KAHS) provides a physician and medicine for free. In this regard, SDA purchases the arrangement for check-ups and medications not obtained in KAHS.
The hostel staff supports the students emotionally and cooks for them with the help of her two daughters. The students appear for their annual examination in December, followed by winter vacation in January and February.