Hyderabad, July 29 (UNI): In a unique development, the University of Hyderabad (UoH), one of India’s Institutions of eminence in Higher Education, and Help The Blind Foundation (HTBF), a non-governmental organization that caters to the financial needs of college-going students with Visual Impairment entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday to offer tech- nologically oriented, employable skills for visually impaired students enrolled in various courses of the University.
The MoU between UoH and HTBF is an expression of interest by a public institution and a private charity to come together to work for the skill development and employability of one of the most marginalized groups of the country’s youth — students with visual impairment who have to struggle hard to attain even the mini- mum levels of college education and skill sets. Speaking on the occasion, the University Vice Chancellor Prof.
B.J. Rao remarked: “the paradox of modern society in the 21st-century is that today the technology in our hands is ready to help us be independent, but we are not forthcoming either to help ourselves or help the technology make us be independent.” He remarked both as a caution and as advice that it is time for organizations like HTBF to break the chain of one of imbalance between technological advancement and human empathy. Agreeing with the suggestion, the HTBF Managing Trustee Shri. Shivaji Rao listed out a series of activities his organization has been undertaking for the employability of visually impaired youth in different parts of the country.
With the MoU now in place, HTBF and UoH will soon be launching a unique skill development training pro- gram, which is envisaged on four pillars: Education, Mobility, Employability & Training (EMET). ECDAP at the UoH will be the nodal implementing agency of the training program. It is hoped that the existing infrastructure of assistive devices and software packages set up exclusively for visually impaired students on the campus will be a backbone for the proposed EMET initiative. Shri. N. Annavaram (a faculty in the Department of sociology), one of the proponents of the special computer lab for the visually impaired housed in the university, expressed optimism that the initiative will be a model for other institutions of higher education in the country to emulate.
