3-D Designs Make Difference for Gulu Primary Blind Annex
3-D Original Designs Make a Difference for Primary Learners at Gulu Primary School Blind Annex.
O&P-UG Assisted Students to Excel in National Exams
Two students who got financial assistance from Oysters & Pearls-Uganda are among the top students in the just released national examination results for entry into University and other institutions of learning.
Known as Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education, UACE, the examinations are marked out or 25 points.
Mathew Awucu Mathew Awucu, who gradually lost his sight in a span of one year (December 2014-January 2015), scored 15 points out 25, beating all 15 sighted students who sat the same examination with him late last year, from Gulu High, a blind inclusive School.
Mathew said he only scored 9 points in his mock examinations which gave him the drive to study harder.
“I am an orphan so my future depends on my grades at school. I spent sleepless nights revising my books and having discussions with fellow students, that is why I got a good grade,” he said.
“Oysters and Pearls-Uganda also gave me a Victor Screen Reader, enough brailed and scanned notes that helped me during revisions,” he said.
Daniel Odoch, the head of department of special needs at the school, described Mathew as a disciplined and hardworking student, who never got in trouble.
Mathew said he has always wanted
Blind and Visually Impaired Ugandan Teachers More Keyboardinated after Touch- Typing Training
Eight months ago, a number of blind and visually impaired teachers in Uganda had the privilege of a touch typing training during Oysters & Pearls – Uganda sponsored annual technology camp.
The results are now remarkable!
Touch typing is an idea that each finger has its own location on the keyboard. It eliminates the need to look at the keyboard, hence, it is one of the most important and useful skills blind and visually impaired persons need.
Lawrence Apil, a blind teacher at St. Hellen’s Primary School in Mbarara, is among those who benefitted from the training. Before the experience, Lawrence spent time working on his laptop, and had to get the help of sighted teachers to assure him that his spelling and punctuation were correct.
“I no longer need to give my typed work to a colleague to help me correct misspelled words. It [the training] gave me a sense of computer-independence”
A great number of blind and visually impaired learners and teachers in Uganda lack access to assistive technology to aid their learning and teaching, respectively. Lawrence suggests that organizations supporting the blind and visually impaired should do more than just advocate for their rights, but empower them with enough skills and gadgets, like O&P-UG is doing, to make them
Visually Impaired University Student to Teach Computer at O&P-Uganda
Claire Akello is among the blind and visually impaired persons who recently earned her JAWS Certification from Freedom Scientific after completing her 3-month computer training at Oysters & Pearls-Uganda.
Oysters & Pearls-Uganda Sponsorship Changed a Blind Student’s Dream
Fingers flying over the letters of his laptop in typing speed, Basil Onen, is undeniably more keyboardinated than many sighted people. But of course, many didn’t ever imagine that Basil would one day be able to use a computer. Not even Basil himself, who, having been born blind, spent his first 10 years at home, as his two siblings and every other child in the neighborhood went to school. “If there is a part of my life I would want to cut away, then it is my childhood,” he stated, emphasizing how “particularly excruciating” it was.
More blind & visually impaired enroll in computer training at O&P Uganda
Oysters & Pearls-Uganda continues to offer computer training to the blind and visually impaired community members across Uganda. JAWS is a computer screen reader program that speaks aloud the screen for those who are blind or visually impaired. O&P-UG has a Country License agreement which enables us to negotiate an affordable price for education. In Uganda, an estimated 30,000 people lose their sight annually, yet the Uganda National population and Housing Census 2014 shows that already, more than 2.1 million people are living with visual impairment and 250,000 are totally blind.
Computerized Devices and Text Books Helping Blind Students to Excel
“I am sure one of the six blind students sitting for national examinations will pass with distinctions.” The head of the Special Needs Unit at Gulu High School, Daniel Odoch expressed this firm conviction. Francis Ojukul, the coordinator of the VI department, had the same feeling.
For three and a half decades though, such optimism in the performance of the blind and visually impaired students at Gulu High School was non- existent.
In Uganda, education for Persons with Disabilities was started in 1952 by the Colonial Government. The special needs education services were for a few children with visual, hearing, learning and mobility challenges who were not gaining from the existing educational provision for regular children. However, Persons with Disabilities are still generally marginalized by beliefs and attitudes in society, and so developments in this ‘Special Education’ have been moving slowly since then.
The blind annex of the school was launched in 1986. But it was only five years ago, when Oysters & Pearls started sponsoring and giving study materials and tools to the blind, that the unit started producing first grades, both in internal and external examinations.
“Since 2012, we have registered at least a first grade in the national examinations,” said Mr. Ali Muzamil, a blind teacher of Commerce
Spelling quiz for blind students
Increasing Knowledge of Blind Students through Spelling Quizzes and Group Revisions
Oysters & Pearls-Uganda has initiated a weekly quiz competition at Gulu High School to improve the grades of Blind Annex students.
The initiative, which was kicked off this year by Ojukul Francis (O&P-UG Project Coordinator), sets students in groups of four. Each group is comprised of students chosen from senior one up to senior six. The winning group gets a prize at the end of the session.
Students who are educated using a Brailler typically do not receive corrective feedback on the writing skills, including grammer and spelling, because their sighted teachers often cannot read Braille. Their spelling is poor as a result and words are written phonetically.
Nonetheless, they are enthusiastically joining in on quiz day to sharpen spelling and compete to answer questions from past exams to ensure the best possible performance on exams.
Francis says he received numerous complaints from the blind students that sighted teachers were not spelling words for them during class which is majority sighted, ignoring the fact that they cannot see the blackboard.
“The spelling quiz competition is not only making the students improve their spellings, but also to think fast, because each group is given only ten seconds to answer a question,” Francis said.
Odoch
Easing Work of Blind and Visually Impaired Teachers in Uganda
Never do you hear a visually impaired, or blind employee in Uganda talking about availability of friendly work tools. For teachers, the problem is graver; because their poor or lack of sight hinders them from using the computer to research, and frequently update notes to remain relevant to students.
Many choose the unreliable option of asking colleagues to help them make notes, mark students’ work, and assess them. That kind of help does not come easy; and is highly unpredictable! This desperate, and heartrending situation has been prevailing for the blind and visually impaired workforce in the country since time immemorial. As such, many who become blind or visually impaired suddenly, find themselves leaving their job, involuntarily.
But Oysters & Pearls-Uganda has broken this curse, especially for many blind and visually impaired teachers in northern Uganda. The organization has trained all the blind and visually impaired teachers at Gulu High School, the only secondary school in the north that is blind inclusive. The teachers now have skills in the computer software; Job Access with Speech, JAWS, which is designed for the blind and visually impaired.
To simplify their work, each of the teachers has been assigned a lap top computer, with access to the internet. The laptops have text books
Giving Blind Students Life Skills
I recently interacted with the blind and visually impaired students from different parts of northern Uganda, who have undergone life skills training by Oysters & Pearls- Uganda.
It was an exciting moment seeing the contented, joyful and optimistic faces of the students of Gulu High School, who each talked passionately about their acquired life skills, and future plans.
Janet Lalam is a S.3 student. Through the training, she got the opportunity to use a needle for the first time. Janet comes from Kiryandongo district; 122 kilometers from Gulu town. Before the training, Janet’s sister stitched her torn clothes. Not anymore!
After her first training last month, Janet made sure that she stitched a bathing sponge made of loofah, before all her family members, and some neighbors. With a full smile that was obviously drawn right from the bottom of her heart, Janet boasted that she didn’t only leave onlookers dumbfounded by her sewing ability, but also enjoyed some moment of fame.
Susan Adoch Angel comes from Omoro district; located 31 kilometers to the East of Gulu town. Angel learnt how to make padded purses and bags. She plans to start making purses for sale during holidays, to raise money for buying scholastic materials, and other basic requirements.
Jolly Joe Ocen did not