KOCHI: A person who can read and write a language, says the definition of literate. However, a survey by the Kerala Federation of the Blind (KFB) and its teachers’ forum found that a huge percentage of persons with visual impairment are illiterate because they don’t have the basic knowledge of reading and writing a language, via Braille, of course. But all that is going to become a thing of the past.
The Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority (KSLMA), in association with the KFB teachers’ forum, has drawn up a programme – Deepthi – that will see persons with visual impairment aged 15 and above learning Braille. The classes will start from October-end. People with more than 40 per cent visual impairment are part of the scheme.
“This is the first time that a scheme for those with visual impairment is being launched at the state level, under the leadership of Literacy Mission. Everything is set. The books needed for the course have been prepared by the resource persons selected from the Kerala Federation of the Blind Teachers’ Forum,” KSLMA director A G Oleena tells TNIE.
According to her, another uniqueness of the initiative is that the teachers too have visual impairment.
“They are better equipped to teach the students as they understand the limitations,” she adds.
Another aspect of the course, designed as a 160-hour programme, is that once the participants complete learning Braille they will be provided with skill training to enable them to move out of the confines of their homes.
“For this, we have approached ASAP Kerala and many other agencies. Our proposal took the people at ASAP Kerala by surprise since they had never heard of such an initiative,” Oleena says.
M Sudheer, president of the KFB Teachers’ Forum says, “The process of identifying the beneficiaries was an exhaustive one. We took the help of panchayats and anganwadi teachers to collect data on the persons with visual impairment in each district.”
The process became tough as no data exists on the number of persons with visual impairment in every district, points out the KSLMA director.
However, with the dedicated work carried out by the anganwadi teachers and the local self-government bodies, the survey identified 2,634 learners in 14 districts.
“Of these, 1,514 have expressed interest in joining Deepthi. The survey that began on November 14, 2023, is still on. So the number of learners interested to join the programme might vary,” Oleena says.
According to Sudheer, one study centre will be arranged in each block.
“The project is being implemented by a block-level organising committee under the leadership of block panchayats. Instructors will also be given honorarium,” he says.
Such a programme had already been tried out in Palakkad and Malappuram.
“At Malappuram, the programme was a big success. That prompted us to look at the possibility of introducing such a programme statewide with the help of KSLMA,” says Sudheer.
Oleena also highlights the eagerness shown by three district panchayats in implementing the initiative.
“Kasaragod, Alappuzha and Thrissur have notified the Mission that they will be proposing a special project for the initiative. Kasaragod district panchayat has told us that they will be hosting the classes at one particular place. They are planning a residential programme that will see the learners being brought to the classroom by the people assigned by the district panchayat on Saturdays. The learners will stay one night, attend the second day of class on Sunday and then leave in the evening.”
This will make it easy for learners who would otherwise need the help of another person to reach the study centre, she adds.
In the case of Alappuzha, the authorities have decided to set aside a sum to meet the expenses of getting persons with visual impairment to reach and attend the course.
“The same has been informed by the Thrissur district panchayat. Only with the support of the LSGDs can this project be implemented without any hiccups since a lot of expense is associated with it,” Oleena says.
Statewide initiative
400 27-line Braille slates with steles for Braille learning procured from NIEPVD, Advance Engineering, Dehradun
No. of persons with visual impairment identified: 2,634 in 14 districts
Number of interested learners: 1,514
Number of instructors recruited: 71
Course duration: 160 hours