Jammu University organises a webinar on ‘Inclusion of Students with Visual Impairment in Higher Education’

JAMMU, February 03: Disability Initiatives, University of Jammu organized a webinar ‘Inclusion of Students with Visual Impairment in Higher Education’. The webinar was carried out with the objective of creating awareness about the challenges encountered and resources available to persons with visual impairment at higher education.

Dr. Tata Rama krishna, Faculty, STRIDE IGNOU was the resource person on the occasion. In his interactive session he mentioned that there are issues related to physical accessibility and material accessibility that are often disadvantageous for the visually impaired. He talked about the reservation policy for Persons with Disability available both in higher education institutions as well in employment. He also shared information about the transport related concessions, dealership benefits, scholarships/ fellowships available to PwDs, and escort and scribe facilities.

He further exhorted upon the need for having University grievance cell to ensure timely action in matters pertaining to its differently abled students and research scholars. Earlier, speaking on the occasion Dr. Sarika Manhas, Coordinator Disability Initiatives, Jammu University mentioned that the University is making earnest endeavor to create an inclusive system for students with disabilities. She highlighted that over the period of last one-year multiple workshops, interactive sessions, webinars/ seminars have been carried out on issues related to persons with disabilities as part of disability welfare measures.

She emphasized that under the patronship of Vice Chancellor Prof. Umesh Rai, Jammu University is committed to create accessible and inclusive system for all students especially those with disabilities. She also emphasized on the need for collaborative and concerted effort by all stakeholders to ensure that a supportive environment is available in higher education institutions for students with disabilities. Sh.Umesh Sharma, Chairman,Disabled Care Foundation& Disability activist highlighted the practical problems faced in ensuring rights of disabled.

He called for synergistic linkages between higher education students and NGOs for better understanding of challenges encountered by disabled students at higher education level. Prominent among those who attended the webinar included Ms. Sandhya Dhar (Nari Shakti Awardee and President, JIGER, Dr. Muzamil Jan (Kashmir University),Dr. Bharti Tandon  (MIER College of Education), Dr. Ankit Mahajan (Jammu University), Dr. Deepti (Department of Higher education, J&K UT), Dr. Nitu Sharma (Department of Higher education, J&K UT), Ms. Upasana (SSM College, Dinanagar, Punjab) The students and research scholars with disabilities enrolled for various departmentsofUniversity of Jammu were also present. Ms. Vinish Malik and Ms. Kanika Gupta, Research scholars from the Department of Home Science, JU conducted the proceedings of the webinar.