Cancer kids get India’s first special school by Tata Hospital

The parents of four-year-old cancer patient Adrishita (name changed) abandoned her at Tata Memorial Hospital. Her world seemed doomed then. But, Tata Hospital has brought hope in her life. She is not only getting free treatment, but like any girl of her age, she is also pursuing education at the hospital. The premium Tata Medical Hospital that receives around 2,000 children affected by cancer every year is the first hospital in India to start a special school for cancer patients recognised by the government.

“In 70 per cent of the cases, children recover from cancer and then they continue with their normal life. There have been several patients who have succeeded in their professional lives. But in many cases, these patients need motivation to continue with their education. Through this programme we want to stimulate their energy,” said Dr Gaurav Narula, Pediatric Oncologist.

According to the observation of the hospital, 25 per cent of the cancer-affected children flee despite receiving financial assistance. Further, due to the disruption in their education while treatment, many discontinue it after getting cured. To address such issues, the pediatric department of the hospital initiated this programme under the flagship of ‘ImPaCCT Foundation’.

The hospital receives around 350 cancer-affected children every day at their OPD, in addition to 45 children at pediatric wards. “To train these children who come from different regions of the country with diversified languages, specialised teachers are allocated who have expertise in handling such children,” said Shalimi Jatis, secretary, ImPaCCT foundation, pediatric oncology.

Every day, around 20-25 patients go to Canshala, a special school recognised by the government. The hospital has arranged a special bus that takes the children to the centre at 10 am on weekdays after their checkup and return at 2.30 pm. If a child takes education in the centre for six months continuously, he/she is given a certificate according to their school registration number that helps them in saving their academic year when they rejoin after treatment.

Bhabesh Kamle, a leukemia patient who was first diagnosed in 2012 has been taking treatment at the hospital since then and had to discontinue his education. To pursue his dreams to study, he started going to Canshala every day. When The Asian Age spoke to him, Mr

Kamle said, “I want to study commerce though I love to read science subjects and like the scientific experiments we learn at the centre.”

“This was first started in October 2014 when we started registering each child with its details. Then if needed we intimate the schools about their health condition so that once they join after getting cured, they don’t lose any academic year,” said Dr Shripad D Banavali, head of medical and pediatric oncology.

Most of the children are between the age group of 3-7 (30 per cent) and 8-10 years (45 per cent). While, children between 10-15 years are counseled to continue with their education. Both, customised education and daily entertaining programme are dispersed into three ways — Ward/OPD, Canshala and workshops.