Students with disabilities must come forward to make use of the opportunities provided by the Government and other sectors, and come up in life, said A.V.D. Narayana Rao, Assistant Director, Disable Welfare, Krishna district.

He was addressing visually impaired persons as part of the inaugural of a three-week-long computer training organised by the HEPSN (Higher Education for the Persons with Special Needs) unit of the Andhra Loyola College and Enable India, Bengaluru.

Mr. Narayana Rao said the State Government had introduced three-wheeler bikes for orthopedically challenged students besides providing angel readers for visually challenged students and other access devices. Students with disability could apply for E-pass scholarships irrespective of their caste, he said.

Supportive services

He said a hostel for the disabled persons had been opened at Paikapuram and students must make use of the facility. Smart canes and skill development courses would be provided to persons with disabilities in the ALC. Mr. Narayana Rao appreciated the supportive services provided by HEPSN project of the ALC.

Resource persons

Two trainers with visual impairments Naveen Kumar and Siva Sankar would be the resource persons at the workshop.

Mr. Naveen Kumar said technology was a great boon which had enabled visually challenged persons like him to lead a normal life.

“We at Enable India provide training to visually challenged persons and find employment for them in a number of companies in the corporate sector.” Principal Fr. G.A.P. Kishore complimented the role of HEPSN in providing an inclusive culture at the ALC and appreciated the volunteers for their selfless services.

Vice Principal (PG) Fr. Rex Angelo, Vice-Principal (Degree) Fr. S. Melchior, Vice-Principal (Inter) Fr. Ch. Vana Chinnappa and G. Sahaya Baskaran, Coordinator, HEPSN participated.

The training programme will focus on accessing keyboard through NVDA software and the participants would also be trained in MS office tools.