The Arulchandru Special School for mentally disabled children is located at Paramakudi in the district of Ramnad. Paramakudi is around 90 km east of Madurai airport in Tamil Nadu, India.
The school is run by ANISE society a unit of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart which has service units throughout India. It cares for and provides education to children with mental disabilities. The Brothers of the Sacred Heart have established close contacts with most of the rural villages through cultural and social institutions in the region. In 2005 needy and deserving children were identified through contacts in the villages.
The school was established there because of the presence of many children with mental disabilities and the availability of space to run the school in that vicinity.
The overall vision of the project is to empower disabled children to acquire social status through human resource development and capacity building measures.The school is recognised by the Government which means it should have access to government grant aid in 2017, for staff salaries and maintenance. Until then, The Friendly hand is giving support to pay the staff salaries.
At present the school has an enrolment of 67 children between the age group 5 to 17 yers, with 7 teaching staff and 2 care providers. The children are brought from home by school van each morning. They are provided with lunch and refreshment at the school. They are taken home in the evening
