Afghanistan Prints 4,000 Braille Books Annually to Support the Visually Impaired
Afghanistan’s Technical and Vocational Education Authority has announced that it annually prints around four thousand Braille books for the visually impaired and provides specialized educational services for this group. The authority has also called on the Taliban administration, as well as international organizations and countries, to pay greater attention to and support the educational needs of the blind.
Seyed Safir Mansouri, the media coordination officer of the authority, stated that the blind community requires targeted support and urged the Taliban leadership and affiliated agencies to prioritize education for the visually impaired in their programs. According to him, limited access to educational resources remains one of the serious challenges facing this community.
At the Authority’s Braille printing press, blind employees have for years carefully examine books point by point with their fingertips to ensure there are no errors in the educational texts. Jawad Naderpour, one of the staff at this printing press, remarked that Braille allows the visually impaired to write down their knowledge and ideas and share them with others.
Braille was invented about 202 years ago by Louis Braille, a blind French teenager; it is a six-dot system that gradually became a fundamental literacy tool for the blind worldwide. The system was fully published a few years later and paved the way for the education of millions of blind people.
In Afghanistan, the Braille printing press was established 46 years ago simultaneously with the founding of the Technical and Vocational Education Institute and the Institute for the Blind. Seyed Bilal Ghazi, head of the Braille department at the authority, states that currently 40 to 50 books are produced daily at this press, with textbooks for grades one through six printed in both official national languages.
Coinciding with World Braille Day, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) also emphasized equal access for blind women and girls to Braille and educational tools. The agency noted that equal access to Braille provides the foundation for greater independence and social participation for the visually impaired.
The United Nations General Assembly designated January 4th, the birthday of Louis Braille, as World Braille Day; a day meant to highlight the importance of Braille, promote equal education, and support the rights of persons with disabilities worldwide.
