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‘I do,’ said Abdul.
‘Chuskit, I will see you again. I must go now. My mother will be waiting for me. Julley!’
The next day, Abdul went straight to the Headmaster’s room after assembly.
‘Julley, Azhang-ley !’ he said. ‘I want to talk to you about a girl from our village who does
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not go to school. Her name is Chuskit. She is Stobdan’s sister.’
‘Oh yes,’ replied the Headmaster. ‘I know her. She is disabled, isn’t she?’
‘Yes, Azhang-ley. She uses a wheelchair to move around but cannot reach school, as the
path from her home is too rough and uneven. I was wondering if we could do anything to
help her, Azhang-ley. We could all get together and level the path and also build a small
bridge across the stream.’
‘That’s very thoughtful of you, Abdul,’ said the Headmaster as he patted him on the back.
‘What made you think of Chuskit and her problems?’
‘Azhang-ley, last week we read about the fundamental rights of citizens in our civics class.
All children have a right to education. That includes Chuskit as well, does it not?’
‘Yes, you are right, Abdul. Let me discuss this with the other teachers,’ replied the
Headmaster.
The next day the Headmaster called all the teachers to a meeting. He shared Abdul’s ideas
with the group and asked the teachers
what they felt. ‘Impossible!’ said one
of them. ‘How can we have a disabled
child in our school? How will she
be able to write, play and
go to the toilet like the other
children do?’
‘That’s exactly what we have to work
out,’ said the Headmaster. ‘I hear
that in the village of Mentok Yul, the
Village Education Committee has
helped build a special toilet for one of
their disabled children.
We could ask them what they have
done. But first we will have Chuskit to
school. Then we could think of ways
of helping her do things in school.’
8 term used with respect for an elderly man
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