APPENDIX A(j)- REPORT ON THE EDUCATION OF THE HANDICAPPED
The Government of India are working on several schemes for the education and. welfare of the handicapped, some of which have already been implemented.
2. One of the important schemes is the establishment of a National Centre for the Blind at Dehra Dun consisting of three units, namely (i) Training Centre for the Adult Blind (ii) Central Braille Printing Press and (iii) Model School for Blind Children. The first two units have already been started. 125 blind adults from all parts of the country are undergoing training at the Centre. The Central Braille Printing Press has also produced its first Braille Book in Hindi. It is hoped to expand the activities of the Press when the new building, which is under construction, is ready.
The Government of India are trying to enlist the assitance of the United Nations in strengthening the existing units and in adding some more units so as to establish a complete Blind Welfare Centre at Dehra Dun.
3. During the past year, the Government of India have started two Schools for the Blind, one at Ajmer and the other at Vandhay, Kutch. The School at Ajmer will be developed as a Model School for Blind Children for all Hindi-speaking Part `C' States.
4. The Government of India have accepted the recommendations of the Middle East and South East Asian Regional Conference on Braille Uniformity, held under the auspices of UNESCO at Beirut in February 1951 and have finalized Bharati Braille. The final charts will be submitted to the Board at its next meeting.
5. To enable gifted blind students to receive higher general education, and advanced professional and vocational training, the Government of India, in consultation with parts 'A' and `B' States, have decided to institute twelve post-school scholarships for the blind in the next financial year.
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6. The Government of India have provincialized the Lady Noyce School for the Deaf, New Delhi, in order to provide better educational facilities to deaf children in Delhi and adjoining States. It has also been decided to institute a few Scholarships for deaf students to enable them to join the Lady Noyce School for the Deaf, New Delhi.
The Government of India are also defraying 75 per cent of the cost of production of the Quarterly "The Deaf in India"-published by the Convention of the Teachers of the Deaf, Calcutta.
7. A token grant-in-aid has been given to the school for Children in Need of Special Care, Bombay, which also trains teachers for mentally retarded children.