Fulbright Foundation Month Program: Usefi Organizes A Panel Discussion On The Topic: “Increasing Wareness, Availability And Accessibility Of Services For The Differently – Abled”

February 25, 2008

Chennai, February 25, 2008: United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) is organizing a panel discussion on “Increasing awareness, availability and accessibility of services for the differently – abled” to mark the Fulbright Foundation month on Thursday, February 28, 2008 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Stella Maris College, Chennai. The program will be in collaboration with Vidya Sagar, an NGO focusing on communities with special needs and their rehabilitation.

Panelists will be Ms. Rajul Padmanabhan, Director, Vidya Sagar, Dr. Sheila Saravanabhavan, an American Fulbright scholar, Mr. Rajiv Rajan, Coordinator, Disability Law Unit, South, Vidya Sagar and Dr. (Sr.) M. Hilaria Soundari, Department of Applied Research, Gandhigram Rural University.

The theme of this panel discussion highlights the need to improve awareness, availability and accessibility of information and services, so that people with special needs will use the diverse service delivery systems available and be able to significantly improve the quality of their lives to make it more independent, productive and meaningful.

The audience will comprise special educators, people in education policy and heads of institutions with a bend towards the subject, activists, academics and parents. Mr. David T. Hopper, Consul General, U.S. Consulate, Chennai will deliver the inaugural address.

Dr Poongothai Aladi Aruna, the State Minister for Social Welfare, will deliver a special address at the program.

The program is open to interested persons.
For further information on the program, please call USEFI on +91 44 28574423 or send an e-mail to usefichennai@dataone.in

About USEFI

USEFI was established in 1950 through an exchange agreement between India and the United States to administer Fulbright fellowships fostering exchange between Indian and American scholars. In addition, USEFI is a source of information on higher education in the United States.

For more information about USEFI, please visit the website http://www.fulbright-india.org/