By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
New Delhi: As Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) gears up to meet the new batch of new entrants on its campus, it is taking especial care to meet the needs of the differently abled among its student community.
JMI offers 3% reservation to persons with physical disability in accordance with the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. Candidates under this category are given relaxation to the extent of 5% in qualifying examination. A maximum prescribed period of two years for a course is also extended for physically challenged persons so that they could clear examinations.
In the academic year 2007-08, 173 students were admitted under this category. Of these 103 were at the UG level, 34 at the PG level and 36 in Diplomas/Certificates. The majority of them have taken admission in the Faculty of Education, the rest is scattered in the Faculties of Engineering and Fine Arts.
The university established Learning Centre for Differently Abled in May 2007 in Dr. Zakir Hussain Library on its campus. Aimed primarily at supporting the visually challenged students and staff members, the Centre offers modern facilities with state-of-the-art assistive technology. The university has already equipped all buildings with ramps to make them accessible to the differently abled. The Centre has facilities for providing these persons with access to printed material, websites, digital media etc. Modern technology like the screen reading technology, screen magnification technology and optical recognition technology have been installed through various software like JAWA for windows talking software, talking typing teacher software, open book OCR scanning and reading software and SARA text reader for the visually challenged. The software would help the visually challenged to access printed books, journals and magazines by simply scanning the text and listening to it without any assistance.
It is hoped that the students and faculty members would take benefit from this facility and would be able to access the printed word. Additionally, through the talking typing teacher software, they can also learn to type and operate computers, thereby providing them with an opportunity to enter in the field of IT.