Visually-Impaired teachers given training

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The visually-challenged teachers in the state would soon grow out of the need for a helping hand to take them around in schools.The 248 visually-impaired teachers are in the process of developing tactile maps, which provide them the layout of their school environment, enabling easy mobility.For the first time, the Education Department and the Integrated Education for the Disabled (IED) cell have organised a series of sessions in Thrissur in five batches to listen to the difficulties faced by the visually-challenged teachers and to come up with measures for their empowerment.The fourth batch of teachers began their session on Friday.It is at these sessions that the teachers are being given training in developing tactile maps as part of giving them mobility-orientation.According to officials, mobility orientation gains significance as it provides them more acceptance in the school.The training for making tactile maps are being given by the IED Resource persons.Once the school maps are ready, the teachers could go ahead and make tactile maps of places they frequently visit.Not just tactile maps, the teachers are being given training in making teaching learning materials, manuals and other aids required in classrooms.“It is the first time that we are giving serious thoughts in the direction of empowerment of visually-challenged teachers.For them, it is the acceptance they expect.That’s why we want them to be part of every classroom activity that general teachers do,” said R Rajan, Deputy Director (IED).Ironically, a group of teachers from here, who reached Thrissur for the sessions in the Trivandrum- Nilambur Road Rajya Rani Express had to face a bitter experience as the Railway officials failed to open the door (that opens to the platform) of the coach no 5 they were travelling.R Rajan, who was leading them, said that eight of them were women teachers.According to him, they were told that the keys to the door were missing and the visually-challenged teachers had to alight on the rail tracks and walk to the destination.“While it shows that the society is not fully aware of the barrier-free requirements of the visually-impaired, it also pointed out that why we should be more mobility-oriented,” a visually- challenged teacher in the group said.Meanwhile, the IED cell is thinking of proposing large printed books for the visually- impaired teachers as majority of them have low-vision and are not totally blind.The need to develop a talking software in Malayalam on different subjects for teachers has come up during the empowerment sessions.