New technology enhances education for blind students
18 November 2008 (Updated 25 November)
Visually impaired students in Kenya were given a boost yesterday when British High Commissioner Rob Macaire donated DFID
computers to Nairobi's Kenyatta University.
The 25 laptops will be supplemented with innovative "Dolphin Pens" as part of a DFID-funded project run by Sight Savers International (SSI).
Yesterday's donation coincided with a visit by former UK cabinet minister David Blunkett MP, who is visiting the country under the auspices of SSI, which works around the globe to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equal opportunities for the disabled.
Groundbreaking technology
Mr Blunkett, who has been blind since birth, gained an overview of the Dolphin Pen, the ground-breaking assistive technology product that magnifies and reads computer screens. The SSI project, a collaboration with Kenya's Ministry of Education, is supported by DFID funding of over £80,000.
Johnson Riungu (24), a third-year student reading history and religious education at Kenyatta, said: "Without the Dolphin Pen I wouldn’t use the computer at all. I used to submit my assignments in Braille, but it would take one month to translate my work into text which could be marked by the teachers. Now I can submit my papers and receive my marks at the same time as my classmates – it’s inspiring to feel like a part of the same class and to be able to track my progress.
"The Dolphin Pen has given me my liberty – I no longer have to rely on my friends to take me to the library or help me with my work. In the future I hope to be able to teach teenagers how to use this technology."
Improving prospects
The Dolphin Pen project is pioneering ways for new technology to enhance
education for visually impaired students, helping them to access learning
materials and improve their educational performance and employment prospects.
It is important that visually impaired students graduate from the education system with confidence, able to fit in in the workplace. Currently in Kenya, fewer than 10% of blind and 20% of Low Vision children are accessing education, and many fewer visually impaired children progress to secondary school and college than sighted students.
Kenya is the first country outside of the UK to pilot the use of this technology, with pens distributed to 200 students in selected secondary schools, teacher training and colleges and universities.
"I am thrilled that DFID has been able to support this important initiative,"
said Louise Banham, DFID Kenya’s Senior Education Adviser, "and hopeful that it
will become much more widely available in the future."
Read how Dolphin Pens are transforming lives in the case study,
Showing the way
forward for Kenya’s visually impaired.
The DFID laptops handed over yesterday were initially donated to
Computer Aid International, a non-profit organisation that provides computers to
the developing world. Find out more about its work on the
Computer
Aid International website.
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Picture
courtesy of Worcester News
Minister for International Development Mike Foster said:
"The Sightsavers Dolphin Pen offers a new level of independence to blind and
visually impaired computer users throughout the developing world.
"For the first time, blind and low vision computer users can carry their
assistive software on a pen drive and use it on any PC. This represents a huge
step forward for visually impaired computer users in developing countries and I
am deeply proud of DFID’s involvement."
Links
- How we fight poverty: Education
- Reducing poverty by tackling social exclusion - DFID policy paper
(153kb)
