Laptops that can be linked to braille terminals to be distributed to visually-impaired children in J&K
Pertinently, resource rooms have been established in all the districts of J&K under Samagra Shiksha to cater to the educational, mental and health needs of specially-abled children.
The school education department in Jammu and Kashmir is going to distribute 42 laptops among children who are visually impaired to provide inclusive educational support through technological interventions.
The laptops will be connected to braille tactile terminals lying in the resource rooms, school education principal secretary Asgar Samoon said.
Pertinently, resource rooms have been established in all the districts of J&K under Samagra Shiksha to cater to the educational, mental and health needs of specially-abled children.
The laptops have been provided by EdCil, an educational support group, New Delhi under CSR Fund.
Braille terminals, which were previously procured under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, have limitations of storing data, but can scale up its functions once attached with the laptops, Samoon said.
Samoon revealed that inclusion is the need of the hour and under the right to education. The department is making all efforts to include every child into the mainstream education system irrespective of any social or economical barrier, he said.
He added that in order to promote and strengthen inclusive education, ICT intervention is much required, and following it, Samagra Shiksha is going to distribute laptops which shall be connected to Braille Tactile Readers lying in the resource rooms.
Samoon added that the department is 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.
Later, Arun Manhas, Project Director Samagra Shiksha said that several initiatives have been taken to encourage specially-abled children for pursuing their education in the mainstream system like disbursement of stipends and allowances, distribution of free aids and appliances as well as learning materials, etc. “Every possible effort is being made to identify such children across the UT, especially those who are not enrolled, to provide them all kind of educational, therapeutic, and counseling support through special educators,” he said.
