After a lifetime of discriminations and countless hurdles, the struggle continues for the visually impaired students at Chittagong University as there are only a handful of academic books available in Braille for them.
They claim their disadvantage is made worse as university authorities fail to ensure proper support or adequate facilities for the visually impaired students.
“It is difficult for us to study like normal students. Our learning type is different. We read from Braille books, but no academic Braille books are available at the central library or the department’s seminar,” said Solaiman Badsha, the president of Disabled Students Society of Chittagong University (DISSCU).
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune ahead of today’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the visually impaired law student said: “We also have to face many academic and administrative problems at the university.”
According to the DISSCU, 71 physically challenged students are studying at the university; of them, 55 are visually impaired.
Asama Akter, a marketing department student, said as there was not enough Braille books, she has to do her assignments by listening to friends who can make time to read out the lessons.
Sources at the CU central library, however, said the library has around 2,000 Braille books outside the academic syllabus. These include English-language magazines, novels, and journals.
“A former banker of Sonali Bank Limited donated a large amount of Braille books to the library, but there are only a small number of academic Braille books available for the students,” said CU acting chief librarian Mohammed Abu Taher.
“We have about 200 [academic] Braille books at the library; which is not enough for the students,” he said.
Library sources said the university launched a Tk25,000 project in 2013 to publish several academic Braille books, but the efforts were scrapped after the publisher failed to meet the deadline.
Braille books are, however, not the only obstacle for the visually impaired students.
“To go to the central library and read a book with help from our friends is a time-consuming matter, and sometimes it is tough for us because the library is too far from the dormitory,” said DISCCU Vice-President Mohammed Hasan, who is also visually impaired.
Although the central library has a special corner for disabled persons, Deputy Librarian KM Nurul Haque said only a few students use it. The corner, which has four computers for the disabled students, can be opened regularly if more people come, Nurul said.
CU Vice-Chancellor Prof Iftekhar Uddin Chowhdhury said the university authorities were aware about the shortage of academic Braille books and are trying their best to resolve the problem.
Meanwhile, an NGO called YPSHA has provided 32 audiobooks and two computers for the physically challenged students at the university, DISSCU sources said.
