Some technology: Blind kids in J&K to get laptops to connect to Braille terminals
THE INSTITUTION Education Department in Jammu and Kashmir will probably distribute 42 laptops among children who are visually impaired to supply inclusive educational support through technological interventions.
The laptops will be connected to braille tactile terminals lying in the resource rooms, School Education Principal Secretary Asgar Samoon said.
“This can help the visually-impaired children to learn and explore more learning resources from the internet,” he said.
Braille terminals, previously procured beneath the Samagra Shiksha scheme, have limited storage but could be scaled up once attached to laptops, Samoon said.
Resource rooms have been established in every the 20 districts of the Union territory to focus on the educational, mental and health needs of the differently-abled children.
Samoon said the department was planning to set open these resource rooms for the general public so that any visually-impaired person can visit and utilise this facility for upgrading their knowledge and skills.
He said inclusion was the necessity of the hour and, beneath the Right to Education, the department was making all efforts to include every child in to the mainstream education system irrespective of any social or economical barrier.
Several initiatives like disbursement of stipends and allowances, distribution of free aids, appliances and learning materials have already been taken to inspire children with special needs to pursue their education in the mainstream system, said Samagra Shiksha project director Arun Manhas.
“Every possible effort is being designed to identify such children over the UT, especially those who find themselves not enrolled, to supply them all varieties of educational, therapeutic and counselling support through special educators,” Manhas added.
