The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (C.N.I.B.) has released a study, which indicates that many blind, visually impaired educated people live in poverty because they can not find work. Many of the barriers they faced 30 years ago still exist.
It seemed to be a never ending struggle, for 50-year old visually impaired, U.N. Singha, until he got justice from the Commissioner Disabilities, Uttar Pradesh (C.D.U.P.), office for inclusion of his initial temporary services period for counting towards the seniority.
The two-year struggle which Singha thought had come to an end, is not over yet. The State government and Lucknow University has decided to appeal against the decision of the C.D.U.P. This means that Singha will have to fight another round.
Society’s attitude towards disabled persons is changing gradually. People are less likely to see someone with a disability as someone to be pitied; there is increased recognition that disabled persons have talents that can be useful to both the employer and the employee.
Madhubala is one such example. At 23, she is like any other working girl: enthusiastic and hard working. She clearly doesn’t let her blindness come in the way of her efficiency.
Children with disability will now have a better chance to secure fair marks in the 10th and 12th standard class, thanks to the decision taken by the Council of the Indian School Certificate Examinations (C.I.S.C.E.). The council has decided to allow disabled children under the I.C.S.E. to use computers and Braille keyboards in examinations with immediate effect.
In spite of a Government notification that reserved 3 per cent of posts for persons with disabilities in Groups A and B and 5 per cent in Groups C and D, the quotas are not being filled properly.
Several government departments remain hesitant to recruit persons with disabilities because they do not think they can handle the work efficiently enough, said Pradeep Kumar, former assistant commissioner for disabilities.
‘Ensuring e-learning materials are fully accessible to anyone especially those with physical or learning disabilities’ was the subject of a conference held in London late last year. The invited delegates included senior learning executives from the public, private sectors and educational publisher groups Debates covered the usability and accessibility of e-learning material to people with disabilities.
Visually impaired Shyam, a college student completed his course in massaging and is now working for the ‘Bapu Nature Cure Hospital’, an Ayurvedic Centre, Delhi. He is looking forward to doing his master’s degree with the money he earns.
In order to boost distance education for persons with disabilities, their parents and trainers, the Rehabilitation Council of India (R.C.I.) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Space Research Organisation (I.S.R.O.) for setting up an EDUSAT up-linking station and studio within the Institute's premises.
How to make textbooks and workbooks accessible to students affected with low vision?
Convert the pictures in the text and workbook to Power Point slides and then show them using a desktop computer, a multi-media projector and a screen. This way, an illustration in a textbook can be enlarged up to 100 times making it clearly visible to students.
Ms Lanka 2005 ‘ Beauty for a Cause ’ was organised by Technique International and co-sponsored by State Pharmaceutical Corporation (Sri Lanka) and other organisations.
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