Visually challenged students from the state of Tamil Nadu are facing challenges due to the high price of the braille books and due to their low availability. The cost of these books is at least 30 percent more than the paperback edition of the same book.
A city college student, M Vellaiyammal said: "the price of braille textbooks was often prohibitive. I request my classmates (who are not visually challenged) to read out from usual textbooks, record it and listen to it again and again to understand the subjects". She further told that certain subjects such as comparative politics are not available in the braille edition.
Most of the VI students belong to socially and economically backward sections of the society and are unable to afford such high priced books.
V Sankarlal, the founder of a voluntary organization, MRL Anbargal Nesa Karangal, which helps such students, said, “We welcome help, be it braille books or for other academic needs of visually impaired students.”
Programme officer of Indian Association for the Blind, R Tamilselvi agreed to the fact the price of the braille books is very high. She said "printing a single page of a braille book with features like embossing to identify letters would consume about two to three pages used in a normal book.
Therefore, the cost would obviously be on the higher side. But with the support of donors and patrons, the cost could be brought down".
On the inadequate availability of textbooks, she said, “It is a big grievance and with support, we can address this issue.”
On the cost of braille books, Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India Executive member R M Meyyappan said, “The publishing industry as a whole is facing a lot of issues, especially after the implementation of the GST regime and demonetization.”
Tags: Braille Books
Expensive Braille Books
Education
Braille Books For Visually Impared Children
