Problems aplenty for the visually impaired as schools reopen

Madurai

The covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns have been extra harsh on the everyday lives of many visually challenged schoolchildren. They are looking forward to the reopening of schools for classes 9-12 next month, more than anyone else.

A visually challenged class 12th student, R. Dharmaraj says, “I study at the KNPM Pillaimar Sangam School under inclusive education. The pandemic has been so stressful since I have not been able to follow a proper routine. I listen to the Kavli Tholaikatchi classes for about 3-4 hours every day. It becomes exhausting at one point. Though I understand the teaching, it gets difficult when teachers explain concepts using black boards. I am relieved that I can go back to school and seek help from my teachers and friends.”

Though Dharmaraj is excited to go to the school campus, he is nervous about catching up on the syllabus. “We went to school for two months in 11th standard. I missed out on learning many chapters in class that are crucial for the 12th standard syllabus. When the school reopens, I have to start gathering audio books for each subject and concentrate on the syllabus,” he adds.

The visually impaired are also having a tough time buying Braille books. Vel Murugan, who runs an NGO (Thuimai Vizhigal) for visually challenged children in the city, says that not everyone can afford to buy Braille books for all the subjects.

“Braille books for subjects, usually have to be bought by a student, out of his/her individual interest. It costs around ₹ 1,500 to ₹ 1,800 to convert a regular book into a Braille book and it contains 5 times more pages. Given the economic background of a majority of the visually impaired students and the pandemic situation, it is not possible to get all the books converted to Braille. They need to become completely dependent on audio books,” he explains.

A special educator who works for government schools in Madurai feels that it would be difficult to get such children on track, after a long break. “Special educators to schools in the district are assigned block-wise. In usual times, we would have the time to visit all the schools in the block and take special care of these children. The long break may have affected them psychologically. We are clueless on how to bring back their confidence levels,” he says.