An estimated 1.5 million people are visually impaired in Pakistan, a
majority of whom is young, school, college and university going.
In Pakistan, blind students face numerous troubles, when they leave their homes in order to go to educational institutes.
The overall infrastructure is not handicap-friendly and people with disabilities have to face a lot of difficulties, be it on the roads, buses, in public or private buildings and educational institutes.
Even at educational institutes like the University of Karachi (KU), which is attended by more than 40,000 students, the situation for the visually impaired is deplorable.
Talking to Daily Times, Muhammad Asif Nazir, who is a blind student at the KU Education Department, said that one of the major problems is lack of availability of audio recording systems. “There is not a single audio library at the university, which makes it extremely difficult for students like me,” he said.
He further said that constructing an audio library for the visually impaired would reduce the dependency on sighted students, who record lectures at the moment to assist their visually handicapped comrades.
Nazir further said, “Forming a blind students union or organisation could help them voice their issues and concerns in front of the university administration.”
Discussing the admission process, Nazir said that there are no provisions for handicapped students, and it makes the whole process very cumbersome.
The university announces the admission dates for the handicapped at the end of the whole process, however, this year the admissions were announced a month after the regular classes commenced.
Nazir was of the view that he did not experience a single facility by KU so far for the disabled except fees exemption for bachelor students.
He claimed, “Earlier, fees exemption facility for sightless was also available in MPhil and PhD programmes, but this year the university stopped giving the waiver.”
There are no reserved seats for the disabled students in university buses, and in some departments, there are no handrails with the staircases even, the perturbed student informed DT.
Zafar Ahmed, another visually impaired student at KU Education Department, commented that apart from the infrastructure problems, some teachers discourage disabled students by saying, what is the need to study for the blind?
Ahmed said that there is no concept of Braille books in KU. “Every blind student has his or her own story to tell. Our problems increase tenfold when we have to go from one department to another, due to poor and unfriendly infrastructure as well as the distances,” he said.
Explaining about the classes, he said that most of the lectures can be understood via recordings, however, some assignments require vision, he said, adding that one of his friend quit MA Education, because one assignment required drawing diagrams, which he could not.
On asking for consideration, the teacher responded with, “you should have thought of this, before taking admission”.
There are no extra curriculum activities for the disabled, Ahmed mentioned, adding, “I have never witnessed sports for blinds in KU.”
Problems faced by the disabled at KU are multifaceted. Another sightless student Sheikh Uzair Hakeem expressing the same problems said that unfortunately in our country, there is no implementation of laws and promises, particularly for special people.
“We are surviving in this atmosphere through self help basis,” Hakeem said, adding that in our country legislation for women, labour and minorities is present, but not for the disabled.
Separately, a female student, Tehmina Raza, also visually disabled said that being a woman makes it twice as difficult for her to travel. She keeps to herself mostly. The visually impaired students rely on a junior to give their written exams at the university, however, at times it becomes a bone of contention, explained Raza. “Many times students do not attempt the exam due to the unavailability of a writer,” she said.
Talking to DT, KU Students Advisor Ansar Rizvi, accepted the problems faced by the handicapped student, and said, “KU has a perpetual financial crises due to lack of grants from Higher Education Commission (HEC) and very low fee structure.” He informed that a few days ago, the KU admin initiated a shuttle service for students, which was free for the disabled, but political student organisations created pressure for its closure. He also admitted to a lack of sports activities for handicapped students, and said that the sports director deals with these matters.
Source : Daily Times , Karachi ( 16th April 2013 )
In Pakistan, blind students face numerous troubles, when they leave their homes in order to go to educational institutes.
The overall infrastructure is not handicap-friendly and people with disabilities have to face a lot of difficulties, be it on the roads, buses, in public or private buildings and educational institutes.
Even at educational institutes like the University of Karachi (KU), which is attended by more than 40,000 students, the situation for the visually impaired is deplorable.
Talking to Daily Times, Muhammad Asif Nazir, who is a blind student at the KU Education Department, said that one of the major problems is lack of availability of audio recording systems. “There is not a single audio library at the university, which makes it extremely difficult for students like me,” he said.
He further said that constructing an audio library for the visually impaired would reduce the dependency on sighted students, who record lectures at the moment to assist their visually handicapped comrades.
Nazir further said, “Forming a blind students union or organisation could help them voice their issues and concerns in front of the university administration.”
Discussing the admission process, Nazir said that there are no provisions for handicapped students, and it makes the whole process very cumbersome.
The university announces the admission dates for the handicapped at the end of the whole process, however, this year the admissions were announced a month after the regular classes commenced.
Nazir was of the view that he did not experience a single facility by KU so far for the disabled except fees exemption for bachelor students.
He claimed, “Earlier, fees exemption facility for sightless was also available in MPhil and PhD programmes, but this year the university stopped giving the waiver.”
There are no reserved seats for the disabled students in university buses, and in some departments, there are no handrails with the staircases even, the perturbed student informed DT.
Zafar Ahmed, another visually impaired student at KU Education Department, commented that apart from the infrastructure problems, some teachers discourage disabled students by saying, what is the need to study for the blind?
Ahmed said that there is no concept of Braille books in KU. “Every blind student has his or her own story to tell. Our problems increase tenfold when we have to go from one department to another, due to poor and unfriendly infrastructure as well as the distances,” he said.
Explaining about the classes, he said that most of the lectures can be understood via recordings, however, some assignments require vision, he said, adding that one of his friend quit MA Education, because one assignment required drawing diagrams, which he could not.
On asking for consideration, the teacher responded with, “you should have thought of this, before taking admission”.
There are no extra curriculum activities for the disabled, Ahmed mentioned, adding, “I have never witnessed sports for blinds in KU.”
Problems faced by the disabled at KU are multifaceted. Another sightless student Sheikh Uzair Hakeem expressing the same problems said that unfortunately in our country, there is no implementation of laws and promises, particularly for special people.
“We are surviving in this atmosphere through self help basis,” Hakeem said, adding that in our country legislation for women, labour and minorities is present, but not for the disabled.
Separately, a female student, Tehmina Raza, also visually disabled said that being a woman makes it twice as difficult for her to travel. She keeps to herself mostly. The visually impaired students rely on a junior to give their written exams at the university, however, at times it becomes a bone of contention, explained Raza. “Many times students do not attempt the exam due to the unavailability of a writer,” she said.
Talking to DT, KU Students Advisor Ansar Rizvi, accepted the problems faced by the handicapped student, and said, “KU has a perpetual financial crises due to lack of grants from Higher Education Commission (HEC) and very low fee structure.” He informed that a few days ago, the KU admin initiated a shuttle service for students, which was free for the disabled, but political student organisations created pressure for its closure. He also admitted to a lack of sports activities for handicapped students, and said that the sports director deals with these matters.
Source : Daily Times , Karachi ( 16th April 2013 )
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