World�s first ever engineering college for visually impaired

The visually impaired candidates who are waiting to get admission into the software engineering courses, their wait is going to over soon. The software and syllabus is ready for the world’s first engineering college for the visually impaired. But the authorities are still unable to identify the suitable land to establish the multi-crore campus that could empower hundreds of special children is where the project is stuck.

This ambitious blueprint to establish college by the Devnar Foundation, with help from professors of BITS Pilani along with 20 different digital and Braille software and initial funding arrangement is however ready.

Andhra Pradesh has a caseload of 10,000 visually impaired candidates below the age of 10 years and only 2,000 manage to go to a special school, a scenario which indicates a nationwide issue, prompted Devnar Foundation, which also runs the world’s biggest blind school to do more.

Since eight students from their school completed engineering from mainstream engineering colleges and one doing further studies in Boston, USA, Devnar’s ophthalmologist founder A Sai Baba Goud decided to propose setting up en engineering college.

Despite being visually impaired these students are brilliant, with recent examples of people clearing chartered accountancy and going for higher studies in the US. Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of engineering colleges in the country with the total number crossing 700. But not even a single college is customised to cater to the needs of the differently-abled candidates.

Goud said, “We need a small plot of about 2-3 acres. We have told the government that we have donors ready to help and also the faculty to teach.” He said about acquiring affiliation from both Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University and BITS, Pilani would not be much tough. He said, “But lack of land is the major stumbling block for the project.”