Until a few days ago, Arjun and Althaf, Std X students of SMV School were at the mercy of their teachers to learn their daily lessons. Unlike other students of their class who had no problem following the new textbooks with changed syllabus, visually-impaired Arjun and Althaf who have not yet received the Braille texts had been struggling to keep up with their friends. “Not any more,” said the boys showing their audio CD packs which had recordings of all the lessons for their coming exams.

Aiding learning

The staff of the Government School for Blind, Vazhuthacaud, have developed a set of audio CDs based on the changed syllabus of Std X text books under the government-funded ICT project. DPI A. Shajahan distributed the first set of learning materials to the visually impaired students of Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, Cotton Hill and S.M.V School in a function held at Government School for Blind, Vazhuthacaud, recently. He also distributed the Braille calendars to the former students of the Government School for Blind that were designed and prepared at the school press under this project.

The ICT project, launched in June 2009 under the sponsorship of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) imparts computer training to the visually-challenged students. Staff of the school, students from Government Women's College and many volunteers were involved in transferring Science, Malayalam and Social Science textbooks of Std X into audio formats.