Some technology: Blind kids in J&K to get laptops to link to Braille terminals

13 May 2020 9:00 AM
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Braille terminals, previously procured beneath the Samagra Shiksha scheme, have limited storage but can be scaled up once mounted on laptops

The School Education Department in Jammu and Kashmir will distribute 42 laptops among children who are visually impaired to provide inclusive educational support through technological interventions.

The laptops will be linked 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 web,” he said.

Braille terminals, previously procured under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, have limited storage but could be scaled up once mounted on laptops, Samoon said.

Resource rooms have already 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 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 To Education, the department was making all efforts to include every child in to the mainstream education system regardless 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 must pursue their education in the mainstream system, said Samagra Shiksha project director Arun Manhas.

“Every possible effort has been made to identify such children over the UT, especially those who find themselves not enrolled, to supply them all types of educational, therapeutic and counselling support through special educators,” Manhas added.

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