6th Africa Forum, Kampala, Uganda

Stimulate Teachers Interest in Braille Reading and Writing: My Story.

C. M. S. Mutisya, Kenya Institute for the Blind, Kenya.

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The worldwide movement for Education for All (EFA), initiated in Jomtien in 1990 and reaffirmed in Dakar in 2000, is the most important commitment to education in recent decades. Efforts since then have yielded significant progress. Yet the EFA agenda and the education-related MDGs are unlikely to be achieved by 2015. As we look beyond these targets, there is need to address the new challenges. The goal is to reach the most marginalized and give more emphasis to equity, quality and learning. To achieve this, there is need to empower teachers and plan for continuous professional development and support. Central to the achievement of all education targets are teachers who are well trained, professionally qualified, valued and decently remunerated. Hence, for teachers to be able to effectively teach leaners who are blind, they ought to learn Braille. A more viable means to achieve this is to incorporate this in their curriculum. The author shares her experience as teacher for learners who are blind before and after learning Braille.