THE Guyana Society for the Blind (GSB) has broken new ground in promoting the education and intellectual development of persons who are blind, visually impaired or have other physical disabilities.

The GSB will, for the first time, be entering a batch of students (in-house trained), to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Council (CSEC) examinations in June this year.
The programme which kicked off last year, with academic classes being held at the Guyana Institute for the Blind, entails the coaching of a class of 15 students, ten of whom, will be writing CSEC exams within the next two months.
This ambitious and innately humanitarian programme is being done in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the President’s ‘One Lap Top Per Family) Programme. The Ministry of Education funds the payment of the teaching staff, as well as provides candidate fees which have to be paid externally for the students to write the examinations, among other things.

Meanwhile, the OLPF Programme has made lap-tops available, free of charge, for each of the students admitted to the training programme. They are being coached in five subjects, namely: English, Business, Office Administration, Social Studies and Human and Social Biology.
Classes are held at the Blind Institute four days per week, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and the class which caters for mature students, 18 and upwards, has a 35-year-old and a 51-year-old as well, and both are performing satisfactorily, officials at the Institute said.
So enthusiastic are the participants about qualifying themselves intellectually, that students travel from as far as Farm, East Bank Essequibo (just off Parika) to attend classes. Others hail from Diamond, East Bank Demerara, Enterprise and Plaisance on the East Coast Demerara and Georgetown.
The CSEC programme for Persons With Disability, was the brainchild of officials of the Guyana Society for the Blind and the Ministry of Education, with key movers being Mr. Ganesh Singh, Public Relations Officer for the Council of the Organization of People with Disability; Member of the Board of Governors of the Society for the Blind and Commissioner on the National Commission on Disability, along with Mr. Cecil Morris, President of the Society for the Blind and Ms. Theresa Pemberton, Administrative Volunteer.
That apart, the society also conducts literacy classes for the disabled on the premises and currently has a class of about 15.
Commenting on the CSEC programme being conducted, President of the Society, Mr. Cecil Morris, said it is a pilot project which has the blessing of the Ministry of Education. “It’s been a rare experience, never tried before and the students are very appreciative of it. There’s a positive vibration and I can already see the difference this has made in their lives. Students are already planning on going to University of Guyana, Teachers’ Training College and venturing into business practice. It’s really a great experience working along with them,” he proudly asserted.
However, he admits it’s not all smooth sailing, and cited a few challenges, such as inadequate classroom space, the need for proper and more furniture for students and teachers as well as security for the premises. Even though the staff complement has been reduced from three to two, with the resignation of one teacher, there are part-time teachers who come in to help the students as the time to the exams winds down, Morris said.
But what is encouraging is the rate at which the students who had left off academic studies for quite a while, have been able to ‘pick up’ and are now performing appreciably.
And tutor, Mr. Ganesh Singh outlined that the CSEC teaching programme is intended to be of two years’ duration. However, because of time constraints, the society has had to compress the work into an 18-month package to allow the students to write the exams in June. He is hopeful that success is realized and that come September, another batch can commence preparation for the exams.
Regarding the potential of the current students, Ganesh rates them as being above average, but said they do not want to press them too much.
Meanwhile, the students are optimistic about the outcome of the examinations and have great plans for the future, including admission to the University of Guyana (for those already with passes in CSEC subjects); admission to Cyril Potter College of Education and working in offices. They too have expressed gratitude to the stakeholders for making it possible for them to attain a higher level of education in order to develop themselves academically and make a meaningful contribution to national development.
Method
Quite unlike previous times when braille would have been the method used for teaching the class, that is not so today. It’s all electronically delivered, thanks for the laptops. They are specially configured with a software (JAWS) which allows the computer to voice everything that appears on the screen, so that audio skills play a great part in the scheme of things.
Reiterating the society’s gratitude and appreciation to the OLPF, Morris said, “Whenever help is needed, at first call they will come, or wherever possible we go, but it’s an excellent collaboration.”
The Guyana Society for the Blind is throwing out a call to Persons with Disability who might have the potential and are desirous of being admitted to the CSEC and Literacy programmes to make their desire known.
Interested persons may call the President or Administrative Volunteer on telephone number: 226-4971 or visit the Guyana Society for the Blind at High Street and St Phillips Green (behind the former GBC Radio Station).

(By Shirley Thomas)