http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/Visually-Challenged-Students-Still-Await-Second-Term-Books/2016/02/08/article3266236.ece Braille Press at Kerala Federation of Blind in T’Puram | Manu R Mavelil THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With barely two months left for the academic year to close, the visually challenged school students in the state are yet to get most books, especially the the second term (part 2) of classes I to VIII.Only a few schools got part 2 books of classes II, III, VI and VIII, the syllabus of which changed this year.
The delay is attributed to the inefficiency of the Kerala State Centre for Advanced Printing and Training (C-Apt) which was given the contract by Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) to print part 2 books, in November. C-Apt was given the contract because the Braille press run by the Kerala Federation of the Blind (KFB), to print Braille text books since 1983, could not meet the demand with its limited resources. But the task was reassigned to them in a recent meeting held at DPI as C-Apt could undertake the task despite having a superior machine. Over 500 students study in 16 special schools. The text books are sought after by visually challenged students of other schools, blind teachers and others.The 10-year old machine does not operate fully as the Federation does not have enough money to maintain it. It has four modules and requires imported machine components called ‘hammer’ that make precision punching. An entire set of hammers cost Rs 34,000 which has validity only for four months. The press is depended on a Dehradun-based supplier who insisted on providing at least half the amount before they could import ‘hammers’ from Sweden. Printing paper alone costs Rs 4 lakh annually and the total expense comes to around Rs 8 lakh a year. The government has given only Rs 1 lakh of the Rs 3.5 lakh annual grant. The government has allotted Rs 43 lakh to buy an advanced printer that costs Rs 76 lakh. “We are in talks with various philanthropists to find the remaining money,” said R Sasidharan Pillai, Secretary in-charge and Executive Director, KFB. Disconcerting Delay ➤ The delay is attributed to the inefficiency of the Kerala State Centre for Advanced Printing and Training (C-Apt) which was given the contract by DPI to print the books ➤ Over 500 students study in 16 special schools. The textbooks are sought after by visually challenged students of other schools, blind teachers and other -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
