Education and Employment

'No physio course for handicapped'

A degree in physiotherapy may not be an option for some in the physically challenged category. Maharashtra Council for Occupational Physiotherapy (MCOP) has come out with draft guidelines holding visually, hearing and speech-impaired candidates ineligible for admission to Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (BOTh) and Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPTh) courses.

Additional government pleader G W Mattos informed the Bombay high court on Tuesday that the guidelines are based on a report of a three-member expert committee. He submitted the report to court which

Maharashtra reinstates visually impaired clerk to college

In a major relief to a visually impaired employee of Chetna College, who was sacked by the college because of her disability, the state government has order her reinstatement by November 30 at the same post.

On Friday, government pleader GW Mattos informed a division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice RS Dalvi about the state government’s decision to reinstate Nilima Surve as junior clerk.

Govt lines up scholarship for children of disabled

The state government will provide a monthly scholarship of Rs 350 to the children of disabled persons, whose annual family income is below Rs 50,000. The post-matriculation scholarship will be given for 10 months in an academic year. But those already availing a state or central government scholarship are not eligible.

2,000 physically challenged to be placed in IT, BPO sector

The Wadhwani Foundation on Thursday announced a tie-up with NASSCOM in which the foundation would assist around 2,000 educated people with disabilities in getting placed in the IT/BPO and software industries around the country.

In a press conference on Thursday, the foundation launched a 'Web accessibility handbook' which would provide insights to companies looking to provide information and communication technology accessibility for their disabled employees.

University of Pune to improve access for visually impaired

The University of Pune (UoP) is all set to improve accessibility for visually impaired students on its campus.

The department of education and extension, headed by prof Sanjeev Sonawane, is working on a project to install advanced sensors at various locations often accessed by students to help needy students navigate through the campus.

Department officials said the project, which took several months to develop, would take up to 3 months to implement.

Journalism project helps verse visually impaired in craft

In a room of Furn al-Shubbak’s press club Monday, students practice their radio voice with Antoine Mrad, the general manager of Radio Liban Libre, while some read sample lines out loud from their books.

High Court strikes down provision in MHADA guidelines

The Bombay High Court on Thursday struck down a significant provision of the guidelines of the Mararashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) on its upcoming recruitment examination of visually impaired candidates.

The provision states that the candidate’s scribe must himself have secured a lower score than the candidate in a previous examination or less than 60 percent marks in his examination. The MHADA examination is scheduled on Sunday.

Sankaranarayanan unveils Marathi encyclopedia for blind kids

Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan today launched the first Marathi Encyclopedia for blind children. It has been prepared by the Maharashtra State Vishwakosh Nirmiti Mandal in association with the National Association for the Blind. The function was held at Raj Bhavan, a release said. The Governor complimented the Mandal, its chairperson Dr Vijaya Wad and NAB for "opening the doors of knowledge to the visually impaired children" by producing the encyclopedia in Braille.

Need for inclusive education system

At least 15 children suffering from various disabilities narrated the problems faced by them in pursuing education in Delhi during a ‘jan sunvai' (people's hearing) organised by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights and NGO Aarth Astha here recently. A number of parents and eminent people also spoke about the issue at large. The meeting lamented that “barriers for inclusive education exist at different levels and discrimination of children with disabilities is widespread among families, communities, education system and policies and programmes”.

CBSE to have special question papers for visually impaired students

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board has a ’vision’ for its visually impaired students. CBSE wants to encourage visually impaired students to pursue careers in the Science stream.

From this academic year, such students from class XI and XII, will get special question papers without any visual inputs like graphs or diagrams for subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics.Instead of practicals, they will have to appear for a multiple choice questions test, which will be based on practical content.