Taarana Celebrates Children's Day with PJ City FC

  It was a heart-warming sight to behold the students of Taarana relishing in the Children’s Day celebration held at the school this past week. The celebration was the first physical event held by the school since Malaysians were thrust into another COVID19 lockdown earlier this year and forced to migrate to the virtual world. During the event, principal of Taarana, Dr Sunitha Sivakumaran said, “To say that it has been an easy transition would be an unfaithful recollection of events. We have all had to adapt to a new normal and in our case, physical classrooms have become online classrooms while parents have had to become teaching assistants. In this regard, we must thank our students’ parents who have taken the time and sacrificed so much to ensure their children receive the best learning experience. We at Taarana are so grateful for their cooperation and trust.” Head of RYTHM Foundation, Santhi Periasamy and a student at the hybrid Children’s Day & Christmas celebration at Taarana   Taarana is a centre for children with special needs which aims to create an inclusive classroom environment that provides equal and equitable education for children with special needs and of all abilities. A flagship initiative under RYTHM Foundation, the social impact arm of the QI Group, Taarana also offers scholarships to children from low-income families who cannot afford the hefty price tag of special education. The children unleashed their creativity during the Children’s Day cupcake decorating activity   Also Read: QI Employees Drive Social Responsibility To Raise Funds For Taarana  Through Taarana, the foundation hopes to raise awareness about the importance of making special needs education more accessible and to help change attitudes and practices associated with special children. RYTHM Foundation strongly advocates for an inclusive educational environment and is proud to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the fourth goal that strives to provide every child with equal opportunities and access to knowledge and learning that can unlock their potential. The children kick a ball around with players from the PJ City Football Club   In the spirit of ensuring the best learning opportunities for its students, the team at Taarana is also excited to announce that it will be updating their curriculum in the coming year, placing more emphasis on living skills. “We have closely observed our students in the past year with the aim of exploring how we could improve our curriculum and approaches to better suit our students’ needs. Based on our observations, we believe there needs to be a greater emphasis on living skills in addition to functional academics so that our students can live with a certain level of independence,” said Dr Sunitha. Also Read: Enabling The Differently Abled Through Inclusive Education   The PJ City Football Club team mascot joined the children for the day’s festivities   The Children’s Day festivities also included players from the Petaling Jaya City Football Club (PJ City FC) owned by the QI Group. Players, Gurusamy Govandar Kandasamy and Filemon Standly Anyie, presented the children with team jerseys and engaged the children in some fun and games during the day’s events. They were also joined by the team mascot, a phoenix who participated and entertained the children during the event.   In conjunction with the season to be jolly that’s just around the corner, the Children’s Day event also celebrated Christmas by incorporating themed decorations, a gift exchange, and a visit from Santa. “Under normal circumstances, Children’s Day & Christmas would be two separate events but given our current situation, we decided to merge the events for safety,” said Dr Sunitha as she thanked those in attendance. Also Read: World Autism Day Celebration At Taarana