The visually impaired community has urged the government to make it mandatory for teachers to be trained in braille so as to accommodate learners with special needs.
This came out during the belated commemorations of the International Braille Day hosted by Gateway to Elation in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
Gateway to Elation is an organisation that works with the visually impaired.
Braille is a writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision.
World Braille Day is celebrated every year on January 4th as it coincides with Louis Braille’s birthday, the inventor of braille.
Speaking during the commemorations, participants said most teachers are not competent with braille making it difficult to impart knowledge to learners with special needs.
“Lately, I have discovered that teachers leave colleges or training institutions without knowing braille, which affects the children who are meant to learn braille from the primary level up to the secondary level,” said one participant.
He said the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology Development has to correct that and make it mandatory for teachers to learn braille.
“The ministry should also make it a priority that any teacher learns something for people with special needs, either sign language or braille so that it’s easier for them when they interact with children in schools.”
Another participant added that the visually impaired community has a challenge accessing textbooks.
“The available books are for the old curriculum, otherwise there is no production of braille books which caters for all subjects. The available ones are just a third of what people need, it is very pathetic when you see children learning at school, someone will be reading for them, and they can’t read on their own.”
The participant added in some schools there is not a single teacher who is competent in braille and learners with special needs are left behind.
However, another participant, Nyasha said there is also a need to educate communities about braille.
“The community where we stay even at home, they don’t understand braille, you realize that when you leave your books, someone can take them and burn them or they leave them in the open where they can be soaked by the rain, so at the end you do not have a book and you are not able to read,” she said.
The founder and director of Gateway to Elation, Robert Malunda said as a way to complement the life and works of Louis Braille they are focusing on information and technology for the blind through provision of training on computer literacy and the use of a screen reader.
“We train people using their resources, it’s an ongoing program where people graduate and they go on to implement or utilize those skills as these are life skills which they need as blind people,” said Malunda.
“Currently we have trained 70 blind people within Zimbabwe. Due to Covid-19, we have been able to explore online options like training online and using platforms like Zoom and we have reached a few visually impaired people outside Zimbabwe.”
