Blind students are unhappy that little effort has been made to provide Braille Slates and books or low vision assistive devices to enable them continue their education. Though the State allocates funds in the budget, this rarely reaches the beneficiaries, activists said.
C. Govindakrishnan, member of the State advisory board in the Department for the Differently Abled, said the Braille press has been defunct for the past decade. “When we enquired, we were told that a few staff members are still in the press and their salaries are being paid,” he said.
The schools are expected to send the details of the number of students in their institution to the Commissionerate, which in turn will place the indent for the books with the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped. The fact is the government schools do not send the list of students as the enrolment is poor, Mr. Govindakrishnan said. “Parents will not willingly send their students to such schools. It is for the teachers to reach out to the parents and ensure enrolment. Teachers must go village to village to get students to come to school,” he said.
The State government also has an incentive scheme to prevent drop-out from classes 10 to 12. The government schools send the list of students to the Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation which in turn raises a bond for students. The scheme is non-functional in blind schools, however, he said.
Teachers at schools for the visually challenged however blamed the non-appointment of a Chief Education Officer for special schools to oversee the functioning of the schools. Members of the College Students and Graduates Association of the Blind pointed out that a new post was created in 2011 with the mandate that the senior-most person who had served in schools for the visually impaired would be given the post. However, since 2013 when the official retired, no one has been appointed to the post. The association’s advocacy member M. Sivakumar said it is only correct that a person working with the schools, especially someone with a functioning knowledge of the department, is appointed.
