Odisha students suffer as state’s only Braille press stays dysfunctional for over a year

Blind students of Class 8 from various schools in Odisha are suffering for lack of textbooks. This is because the state’s only Braille press at Berhampur, has not been able to print textbooks for these students since 2016.

School principals say their students have to work much harder because books in Braille are simply not there. The textbooks for Class 8 were changed from 2016-17. Some schools managed to get the English textbooks typed in Braille by an organisation in Bhubaneswar.

However for other textbooks that are in Odia, students were asked to write them down in Braille. The teachers had to put in extra effort to make students understand the change in the course.

This is the state of not just one school, but 60 such schools in Odisha.