Braille access for disabled in ‘short supply’ at universities

A shortage of braille is making it difficult for Cambodia’s visually disabled people to search for knowledge, Blind New Generation head Vin Vichet said last Tuesday. He said this applies not only to visually disabled people studying at universities in Cambodia but also others who need to be able to read, writes Orm Bunthoeurn for The Phnom Penh Post.

Vichet said a lack of braille is particularly difficult for disabled students because they cannot research documents or access libraries or other places that enable visually disabled people to read books. All they can do is have others read to them. He said the simple truth is that visually disabled people need to be able to read and that has long been an unspoken problem in Cambodia.

“Currently, there are braille publishing houses but after 2011 they were incorporated into the state. So, until now, it has become the National Institute for Special Education under the state’s management. The organisation publishes braille for students in grades 1-12,” he said. He said while grade 1-12 students have sufficient supplies, there are not enough for university students.
Full report on The Phnom Penh Post