The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Proposal to give computers to schools for visually impaired

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 22, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Proposal to give computers to schools for visually impaired

Staff Reporter

Training programme for teachers from schools for visually impaired

— PHOTO: R. RAGU

EMPOWERING THROUGH EDUCATION: Software consultant Krishnakant Mane (right) making a presentation at the valedictory of a training programme organised by ELCOT in Chennai on Wednesday. Social Welfare Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna and Commissioner for the Disabled V.K. Jeyakodi are in the picture.

CHENNAI: The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) has put forth a proposal to the Social Welfare Department regarding giving schools for the visually impaired 30 computers each with Orca, a free and open source software technology designed for persons with visual impairments. There are 25 such schools in the State.

ELCOT, in association with the State Commissionerate for the Disabled, organised a three-day training programme for teachers from schools for the visually impaired.

Speaking at the valedictory here on Wednesday, Social Welfare Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna said the initiative was in line with the department’s approach to empower those with special needs through education and employment.

“We plan to start early intervention centres for children with visual impairment in the next financial year,” she said.

Orca Vs. Jaws

ELCOT managing director C. Umashankar said Jaws, the software that was widely used by visually impaired persons may not be affordable to all, since it cost nearly Rs. 1 lakh to obtain a licence. “Many end up downloading evaluation versions for short periods of time,” he said.

Orca, on the other hand, was free and an open source software that translated text to sound. “Since the source course is open it can be modified to be made available in Tamil too,” he said. ELCOT’s proposal was to have computers in schools with this software and Ubuntu (Linux distribution), a computer operating system that supports it.

“Since we wanted feedback on this software we organised this training programme, which had over 50 visually impaired teachers among the participants,” he added.

Mumbai-based programmer and free software consultant Krishnakant Mane trained the participants over the three days. Mr. Mane, a visually impaired research scholar at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, highlighted the flexibility the free software offered. “It gives you the freedom to share and adapt it to one’s specific needs,” he said.

It would enable visually impaired students to look beyond conventional jobs and consider becoming programmers, he added. Commissioner for the Disabled V.K. Jeyakodi and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’s (SSA) State Project Director M.P. Vijayakumar commended ELCOT and Mr. Mane for their effort.

For more details on the software, visit http://live.gnome.org/Orca.

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