APPENDIX A (J)-- REPORT ON THE EDUCATION OF THE HANDICAPPED
1. The final charts of Bharati Braille are under preparation and will be submitted to the Board at its next meeting. Meanwhile the Central Braille Printing Press has started on the production of Hindi books in Bharati Braille.
2. The Government of India have appointed a committee to frame Braille contraction for Hindi. This committee has framed general principles on which work is to proceed. A full report on the work of this Committee will be submitted to the Board at a later session.
3. The Government of India have also appointed a Committee to frame a satisfactory common Braille music notation for the country. This committee met on the 7th and 8th August 1952, and agreed on the basic principles that should guide the framing of the notation. The notation will be submitted to the Board for information as soon as it is ready.
4. The Training Centre for the Adult Blind, Dehra Dun, continues to make steady progress. During the year under review the capacity of the Centre has been raised from 125 to 150.
5. The Planning Commission has agreed to include the setting tip of a Model School for blind children in the Five-Year development plan. Attempts are being made to provide funds for the execution of this scheme.
6. The Government of India have, for some time, been trying to enlist the assistance of the United Nations in the development of the National Centre for the Blind. It was suggested that this Centre might serve as an international Blind Welfare Centre. An Expert of the United Nations recently visited this country in order to make an on-the-spot study of the situation at Dehra Dun and to make recommendations to the United Nations. The recommendations of the expert are awaited. Further developments will be reported to the Board in due course.
7. During 1952-53 eleven scholarships were awarded to blind students for post-school studies. The cost of the scholarships is shared equally by the Central and State Governments. The scheme is to be continued during 1953-54 and a sum of Rs. 14,000 has been provided in the budget for 1953-54 for this purpose.
8. A further issue of Deepavali, a half-yearly periodical devoted to the education and welfare of the blind, has been published. This journal will be published in ink-print as well as in Braille.
9. The Government of India have appointed an Expert Committee on Deafness. The terms of reference of the Committee are: "To make an assessment of the causes and extent of deafness in the country and to recommend suitable measures for the prevention of deafness and for the education and rehabilitation of the deaf.
The Committee met on the 12th and 13th January 1953, and made several recommendations. The recommendations are under the consideration of the Government of India.
103