TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TRAINING (FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES) BY ONNET

Abstract

In a national survey that we conducted in 1998, out of about five hundred adults with blindness, we found out that there were 27 visually impaired adults with very little background or have heard about computer for the blind. Screenreader for the blind then was not that familiar with them. Technology and computers for the blind was introduced in the Philippines in the late 1990s, when a non-government organization took advantage of it and began to work for the blind by offering basic training in computer using a screenreader. Resources for the Blind, Inc. (RBI), first got involved in computer training through a trainers training with five special education teachers as participants. A series of trainings followed for other special education (SPED) teachers and selected workers for persons with visual impairment. After gaining the skills, these teachers included computer lessons in their curriculum. It was also during this time that ONNET started to fund a project to set up a Computer Resource Center in each of the schools where there are students with blindness. The Computer Resource Center was equipped with a set of computer with screenreader and magnification software, braille translator program and braille embosser, a printer and a scanner. Then in 2001, RBI started Computer-Eyes, a two-week advanced computer training program for selected twenty secondary students with visual impairment. This training aimed to better educate the students about the use of computer using a screenreader and prepare them for future employment. This program was conducted in partnership with the Philippine government’s Department of Education, IBM Philippines, Freedom Scientific and Overbrook-Nippon Network on Educational Technology (ONNET). With the support of these organizations, students with visual impairment are taught the importance and use of computers using a screenreaders, office applications, Internet and email. The computer training is now an annual project of RBI with 20 to 30 participants every year which through the recommendation of the SPED teacher from different schools of the country.
Computer and assistive technology has made a positive impact in the lives of people with visual impairment in education and employment around the country. More students in higher education are now encouraged to take computer related courses because of the jobs demand in the global market. Currently, there are about 31 students with visual impairment enrolled in college and universities nationwide taking up computer related courses.