Digital empowerment to achieve career goals
Fifty-year-old Om Prakash is a resident of Durg district in Chhattisgarh. He was born with an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, which results in gradual sight loss. Up till Class X, Om Prakash was able to attend regular school alongside sighted children. But as his vision began to deteriorate, he was unable to study in a mainstream classroom. Due to lack of awareness regarding resources to enable a person with vision impairment to pursue education, he had to drop out and discontinue his studies.
For around ten years, Om Prakash hopelessly sat at home, believing that he had no future. But in a sudden turn of events, he visited an organisation working for the empowerment of persons with blindness. Meeting other visually impaired people renewed his vigor for independent living.
Om Prakash was guided how to complete Class X and XII through distance learning. He went on to finish his graduation and MA in Political Science. And this he did alongside working as a Junior Assistant Teacher in the state’s education department. His hard work led him to a promotion as a Primary Headmaster. But something was amiss.
When he contacted the Eyeway Helpdesk recently, Om Prakash shared how he was dependent on sighted assistance for accomplishing basic tasks at work. He couldn’t check the documents shared by school officials. He couldn’t conduct online lessons on his own. Reading and responding to official email was also done with the help of another person.
The counselor realized that despite his teaching potential, Om Prakash lacked digital literacy skills to engage with work and people in both personal and professional settings. He was therefore advised to enroll for a training program that would equip him to use his smartphone with the help of TalkBack which is an in-built screen reading accessibility feature. As expected, finishing the online training, Om Prakash could independently use WhatsApp, check emails, access study material using various applications, navigate spaces through apps and so on.
The Eyeway counselor further encouraged him to enroll for a computer training program, which would enhance his independent living. Using screen reading software, a visually impaired person can easily engage with the mainstream modes of communication. In this case, Om Prakash will be able to set exam papers for his students, assess them, conduct Zoom classes, and much more.
Excited about ceasing his dependence on a sighted person, Om Prakash is currently undergoing the computer training program. Once fully equipped digitally, he plans to chase his career dreams of securing a Ph.D. to become a college professor.
Team Eyeway