Fahad Ghayyor, Junaid Faisal Wazir, Aimal Khan, Zahid Jadoon, Sadiqullah.
Difficulties Faced by Visually Impaired Students in Blind Schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KPK).
Ophthalmol Update Jan ;16(1):494-8.

Background: In last few years frequent changes have been made in the learning of special educational systems. The motive behind these evolutionary amendments was the obligation of the people who had a support and are keen to go side by side with other people who are dedicated to work in other countries. These efforts are hampered by lack of data for policy planning to address the difficulties of the visually impaired students in special education schools. Objective: To determine the common difficulties faced by visually impaired students in blind schools of KPK province of Pakistan. Methods: It was a cross sectional study. Data was collected in blind schools of KPK province between April and December 2016. Seven Special education schools from seven districts were visited which were located in Peshawar, Swabi, Mardan, Swat, DI Khan and Abbottabad districts. Questionnaire containing likert scale was filled which had questions regarding satisfaction in mode of instruction, barriers in instruction and difficulties in orientation and mobility. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 150 students with visual impairment interviewed 41 female and 109 male students. The mean age of the students in schools was 12.48 + 2.4 years. The sample includes 48 % students legally blind, 42% students partially sighted and 10% students were blind. The major difficulties faced include barriers in education, teacher`s mode of instruction, mobility and orientation. Only 32% of the students were having teaching material in Braille. All of the students 100% did not have KPK text book in Braille. A good number 62% of the students did not have computer access in their schools. 86% were having an opinion that their teachers fully assess them in learning. 63% were reported that they do not feel comfortable in class environment during lessons and it need to be modified. 98% of the students hesitate to go to teacher`s office when they were stuck, therefore teacher`s student relation needs to be making comfortable. 54 % were of the opinion that the teaching material is not good enough. 52% were not given supportive transport for pick and drop. 71% reported that they did not have easy access to toilets in the school. A significant count of visually disable students 93% respondent reported that that they were deprived of specialized trainer. Conclusion: The visually impaired students of blind schools of KPK are facing problems such as barriers in acquisition of reading material in Braille, in soft and recorded form, some of the difficulties they were facing in mode of instruction and mobility and orientation. There is lack of stationeries (Braille printed books), lack of visual readers, teacher`s vacant posts and difficulties in taking exams and transport etc.

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