BYAN organised half day workshop with curriculum development center(CDC), Department of Education (DOE) office of Examination controller(OEC) for blind friendly examination during the SLC examination of the blind. The examination system gaps were :
- Sufficiently and timely availability of Braille text books: In 2015, close to 65 percent of BPS students received braille text books in time while some others did not receive or received towards the end of academic year. One of the focuses of the project will be to have braille text books in the hands of each and every student at the start of each academic year. This also includes the provision of text books in large print for the partially sighted people.
- BPS friendly curriculum and text books: The existing curriculum and text books are of general nature that treats BPS children on the equal basis to that of others. Given the fact that BPS students have some functional restrictions in participation, there needs some adaptations in the curriculum and text books, for example choice of subjects, Geometry.
- Assessment and evaluation system: More adaptive nature of assessment and examination system has to be adopted for the BPS students. Short and general natured of assessments can be done using slate and stylus while long and time taking assessments has to be carried out by provisioning of 'competent' writers provision. Currentprovision of writing assistant with one class junior does not appropriately depict the talency/knowledge of BPS academics.
BYAN organized a half day workshop of potential and existing employers in Pokhara, Kaski, where we will discussed the potentiality of mainstreaming visually impaired youths in job market. We facilitated on possible challenges and some mitigation measures in the hiring process. We also highlighted the benefits for the employers on having visually impaired youths as employee.
Hiring person with disability is good business. The employers who do this turn social issues into business opportunities. This process will not only promote the employer’s image as a diversity employer but also justifies the fact that they are responsible to their communities. There were many participants from various colleges, Hospitals, Business houses, Travels etc