Engineering college for the visually challenged

HYDERABAD: An engineering college for the visually challenged will be set up soon by the Devnar Foundation for the Blind, said its founder and chairman A Saibaba Goud at the school’s 20th anniversary celebrations here on Monday.An atlas containing 18 embossed maps for visually challenged students studying in 7th standard was also released on the occasion. The maps were designed by the Centre for Applied Research in Geomatics (CARG).On the engineering college, Goud said that setting up of an exclusive institution will give a broader scope to visually challenged students to aim for higher education and  employment. “We have designed the syllabus and study material already. We will request the government to allot us land to establish the college in the city as it will be easier for students to commute and will draw larger number of teachers and volunteers to the institute. Such a college will allow the students to learn at their own pace,” he explained.Many students from the school are already pursuing engineering in the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad. One of the students, Srikanth, became the first visually challenged student from India to enrol in the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston.Students across the state are a part of the free residential school which is run on donations from members of the foundation and philanthropists.