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Video Producer: Maaz Hasan
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the framework of education. Students are still finding it difficult to adapt to the changes, especially the visually impaired students. Touch plays a major role in their education. However, amid the pandemic, how can one teach through touch? As a result, these students are facing a lot of difficulties in pursuing their education in the online mode.
We visited Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys Academy in Kolkata to understand the problems being faced by the students there.
On reaching the school, we got to know about how visually impaired students study with the help of braille scripts, and the publication of such books in detail. During the pandemic, the school ensured that the publication of books was carried out and the students could access them in the form of audio books.
Although the students are attending online classes and taking their exams online, they say there is a huge problem in understanding the core concepts because touch plays a huge role for them.
Finding writers for their exams has also proven to be difficult during the pandemic.
We spoke to the teachers and the principal of the school. All of them echoed similar sentiments.
"The main problem in online classes is that we, visually impaired people, study in three-dimensional format. For example, people who see can study in two dimensions and three dimensions also. Say, a person who has sight can recognise a nose whether it is presented in 2D or 3D. However, a visually impaired student can understand it only in the form of 3D, through models, braille charts, and maps," says Indranath Banerjee, a teacher at the school.
The primary school students are also facing extreme difficulties because learning braille is one of the most important things for a visually impaired person. Right from the beginning, braille is taught to the students in the school. For teaching braille, too, touch is very important and due to this pandemic situation, the braille system is difficult to grasp for the primary students.
Deep Mondal, a student, says, "I have seen in several news channels that the problems of the blind students are not talked about. I think people should wake up from their slumber and talk about the problems of the blind students too."
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