New computer lab for School for the Blind
VISUALLY impaired and blind pupils from Athlone School for the Blind will benefit from a new state-ofthe-art computer lab unveiled yesterday by Deputy Minister of Social Development Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu.
The school in Bellville is both a day and boarding school for children from preschool to Grade 12 and accommodates blind, visually impaired and special needs pupils.
The lab, opened in partnership with MTN SA Foundation, will enable the school’s 310 pupils – of which 187 are partially sighted – with information and communications technology (ICT) skills.
Bogopane-Zulu said: “What you see for the visually impaired learners are magnified screens and bigger monitors. Another section for the completely blind students there are earphones and speakers with a voice, which for the first time is a South African one. The most expensive piece of equipment is the Braille printer,” she said.
The deputy minister also demonstrated the lab’s PEARL camera, which scans materials so that it can be adjusted on-screen for the visually impaired to be read or printed in Braille.
Bogopane-Zulu, who is visually impaired (blind), is one of only two disabled cabinet members and a disability rights, gender, children and HIV and Aids activist.
MTN SA Foundation general manager Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi said they had been working with the department for five years.
“In the special needs community the equipment needs differ; this one cost in the region of R1.2 million… The special needs community uses ICT as an enabler and are often overlooked within society.”
For more information on Athlone School for the Blind. see www.athloneschoolfortheblind.org or call 021 951 2234.