The Eastern Regional Conference of the International Council on Education of Persons with Visual Impairment concluded on Tuesday at the Ravenshaw University here. It was attended by more than 1,000 delegates from across the State and eastern States like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

 The two-day consultation deliberated upon best practices, innovations and challenges in the field of education for the visually impaired children. It highlighted the issues relating to the visually impaired children’s access to quality education.

In Odisha, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has identified approximately 30,000 visually impaired children many of whom don’t have proper access to their schools due to physical and attitudinal barriers coupled with lack of supporting system at schools.

The speakers stressed on identification of the visually impaired children, their medical assessment, provision of low vision glasses and assistive devices.

Human resource development and necessary curriculum adaptation strategies need to be taken seriously by the State SSA authorities in order to ensure quality education delivery, the experts opined.

Visually impaired students from remote Koraput district were provided Angel Daisy Player with support from Sightsavers as a new technology in the field of education for the blind children.

The conference sponsored by Sightsavers, ICSSR and ICEVI was organised by the Equal Opportunity Cell of the Ravenshaw College.

Speaking on the occasion, Sightsavers senior programme officer Akbar Mehfuz Alam stressed the need for developing human resources in the field of inclusive education and providing new methodologies and technologies available to promote the quality of education for the visually impaired students.

 The speakers stressed that the education of children with disabilities is also an essential driver for poverty alleviation and human development. People with disabilities constitute an estimated 20 per cent of the poorest of the world.

Exclusion from education is a significant factor in the high levels of poverty often experienced by people with disabilities and their families.

Denying children with disabilities access to a quality education greatly constrains their opportunities to gain independence and skills, often leaving them isolated and unable to contribute to their own self-fulfilment or their communities’ drive for development, they viewed.

ICEVI West Asia Chairperson Dr Bhushan Punani, Treasurer Nandini Rawal and Tulika Das from Sanchar among others were present. From SOVA, Korpaut Dr Shymasundar Panigrahi, Atri Choudhry from MNBEI, West Bengal, Chanda Mitra from ADHAR and Priyanka from CCD presented their papers.

The conference also mooted for a disability studies department in the Ravanshaw University where more than 80 visually  impaired students are currently studying.