Transformation of the teaching methodology for people with visual impairment.

According to a WHO study, globally about 285 million people have a visual impairment, including 39 million individuals who are blind and an additional 246 million who have poor vision. Braille, the tactile script for reading and writing is fundamental to their literacy, employability and independence. The Braille literacy rate in the USA is less than 10% and less than 1% in India, the ratio of special educators to the student with visual Impairment is 1:200. In the current scenario, braille is taught in the classroom by sighted or Visually Impaired teachers using a braille slate or braille books. The government has established around 150 blind schools and has provided grants for various private or NGO run schools. Braille literacy and education are instruments that drastically enhance the chances of gainful employment, through the work done by many national organizations like the National Association for the Blind (NAB) who are working in this field. However, the pedagogy of braille education has not seen a change in recent history. The individual interaction between student and teacher is not being addressed, owing to the low number of qualified teachers. Existing methods fail to penetrate the majority of the visually impaired. Currently, the average time for individual attention per child per class is 5 minutes or lesser. In such a scenario, innovative teaching instruments and techniques are required as a catalyst to bring about a long-term change. Read less