MATHEMATICS EDUCATION FOR BLIND: CURRENT SCENARIO FROM THE BLIND SCHOOLS IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

The learning process for the blinds is complicated as they are unable to get visual information. They only depend on touch and haring to get the education. Bangladesh is a low-income country with a huge number of blind children. Including special, integrated and inclusive schools are available for blind students in Bangladesh. A lot of challenges and problems these blind children are facing to get education, especially in studying Mathematics. As a developing country, Bangladesh cannot afford for the costly Mathematics learning technological tools for VIS. The objective of this study is to analyze the current scenarios of learning Mathematics in different types of blind schools in Bangladesh. In order to achieve the objective, a survey is conducted in all three types of schools. The survey was based on questionnaire comprising questions related to learning methods, Mathematics learning, examination methods and learning difficulties. Survey results present that they follow Braille system for reading and writing. In case of mathematics, talking calculator is not available in schools. As Taylor frame and abacus are the only options for counting numbers, they face many problems while calculating large numbers and complex calculations. This paper examines and tries to list out the key issues associated with mathematics learning and proposed some solution to improve the current learning process for blind students.