Kerala: First state to train visually challenged teachers in ICT
What's the story
Kerala government's IT@School project will now train 500 visually challenged teachers across the state in ICT to facilitate high-tech programs in the schools. The project has already benefited more than a lakh of teachers from high school, upper primary and lower primary with knowledge of ICT, enabling them to make use of technology to teach their subjects. Here's all about it.
Training
What is it all about?
The Union Human Resource Development Ministry had earlier appreciated the state government's efforts of providing basic IT training to all the visually challenged teachers in 2011. The current project focuses on possibilities of Information and Communication Technology to enable efficient handling of subjects and not just computer training. An official said that specific cluster training was also being arranged for visually challenged students.
Teachers
Complete training within a month
In this noble undertaking by the state, all the visually challenged teachers would be able to complete the training within a month. K Anvar Sadath, the executive director of the IT@School project said that while 200 of the visually challenged teachers will be trained in May, the training for another 260 teachers will be completed by July.
Technology
What is on the offing?
The training for ICT to teachers will include measures that would ensure efficient classroom teaching with the help of technology like preparing documents and presentations, the legal aspects and ways to collect digital content from the Internet, recording audio, editing video and language computing. The training is also expected to enable access for the visually challenged teachers and students to the available technology.
Success
How will it change the future?
When the training of nearly 500 visually challenged teachers will be completed by July, Kerala would become the first state in India to achieve the feat of providing ICT training to all its visually challenged teachers. It is aimed at empowering the visually challenged teachers and making them stand at par with their fellow colleagues in using the ICT for classroom teaching.
Happiness
Visually challenged teacher responds to the training
Sebastian, a visually challenged teacher said, "The dull and monotonous life as a person and teacher, turned dramatically … and we are now using ICT…as good as a normal man does." Moreover he said, "The joy goes up to its peak now as we are learning to apply it in our classrooms. It's like we are getting our eyes back."