Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Braille printing press in State soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister for Education M.A. Baby has said that the government will set up a Braille printing press in the State. He was addressing the participants of a training programme organised by the State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT) for the heads of special schools in the city on Tuesday.

A decision regarding the setting up of the press, which will cost around Rs.75 lakh, has already been taken, Mr. Baby said.

The Minister assured the participants, over 40 headmasters from various special schools across the State, that the government would implement the guidelines that would emerge from the four-day deliberation.

“Financial concerns will not hinder the implementation,” he said.

The workshop, organised for the first time for the heads of special schools, was intended as a wake-up call for a “society that has forgotten its responsibility towards people with disability.”

C.P. Narayanan, member, Planning Board, said that the educational progress achieved by the State was not reflected in society’s attitude towards people with disabilities. The highlight of the workshop, however, was a two-page programme schedule of the event written in Braille script.

The workshop saw participants raising concerns before the Education Minister.

Some of their demands include constituting an academic council to provide assistance in conducting examination, sports meet, teacher training and curriculum revision; preparing separate textbooks for children with hearing impairment; providing the services of speech therapist and audiologist at every special schools; constituting a special cell at the Directorate of Public Instruction to monitor the functioning of special schools in the State; providing more time for special students appearing for the I.T. practical examination at the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination; appointing sports teachers in special schools and providing broadband Internet connection.

The function was attended by James Varghese, secretary, General Education, Johny K. John, director, SIEMAT and R. Rajan, deputy director, Integrated Education for the Disabled, Directorate of Public Instruction.

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