CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education and access to
information are fundamental human rights of all children, but primary school
pupils who are visually impaired encounter obstacles realizing these rights,
thereby not meeting their full potentials. This is because the nature of their
disability presents grievous obstacles to their acquiring information.
Visually impaired primary school pupils
are pupils in primary schools with sight loss, which loss cannot be improved by
corrective lenses to enable them read as others. Visual impairment is a
disability that is associated with loss of vision. It refers to people with
irretrievable sight loss and it covers a range of impairments. Vision is one of
the five senses of human beings and is associated with sight. The eye has
different parts that work together to create ability to see. When a part of the
eye does not work right or communicate well with the brain, vision is impaired
(NICHCY, 2012). Visual impairment refers to people with a wide spectrum of
impairments. Ugwu (2008) asserted that it is an umbrella term referring to
various degrees of defects in eye function or structure, ranging from the
slightly impaired to the completely blind. Friend (2009) also opined that
‘visually impaired’ is a general term used to described people who are
partially sighted or completely blind. However, the Copyright (Visually
Impaired Persons) Act 2002, broadly defined a visually impaired person (VIP) as
someone who is blind, partially sighted and whose eyesight cannot be improved
by corrective lenses to allow them to read without a special level or kind of
light, who is unable to either hold or manipulate a book or move the eyes to be
able to read easily. In other words, any person who is not able to read in a
conventional way is visually impaired.
Visual impairment is a functional
loss of vision rather than eye disorder. Eye disorders that can lead to visual
impairment include retinal degeneration, albinism, cataracts, glaucoma,
muscular problems that result in visual disturbances, corneal disorders,
diabetic retinopathy, congenital disorders and infection. It could also be
caused by brain or nerve disorders known as cervical visual impairment (CVI).
The occurrence of visual impairment
is attributed to many factors. According to Ugwu(2008), it can be congenital or
adventitious. He explained that it results from identified or unidentified causes during the various stages of one’s
life. For instance, during the prenatal stage (before birth), genetic factors,
disease, congenital anomalies, drugs, accidents and malnutrition can cause
visual impairment. For the peri-natal stage (at birth), it can occur during
prolonged labour, which may lead to damaged brain cells or accidents resulting
from the use of instrument or even excessive sedation as an inducement during
delivery. In the postnatal stage (after birth), weather, disease, accident and
malnutrition can cause visual impairment.
Visual impairment is classified into
categories. Mba (1995) asserted that there are three categories of visual
handicap which include total blindness, low vision and partial sightedness.
Meanwhile, WHO identified three levels of visual capacity as normal vision, low
vision and blindness. Low vision and blindness may result from three medical
conditions that include reduced visual acuity, restricted field of vision and
imperfect colour vision. People with low vision can read large print materials,
but those who are blind cannot read anything in print. Of the three types of
visual impairment, blindness is the most common. Abosi and Ozoji (1981)
asserted that a person is considered blind if he cannot read and write print
after all optical corrective measures have been taken.
Incidence of visual impairment is on
the increase. WHO in 2010 reported that there were 39 million blind people and
246 million people with moderate and severe vision impairment globally. In
Nigeria, Mba (1995) estimated that one out of every four school children had
some visual problems.
Visual impairment affects how a
child understands and functions in the world. It can affect a child’s
cognitive, emotional, neurological and physical development by limiting the
range of experiences and kinds of information a child is exposed to. This is
why Eguavoen and Eniola (2007) noted that a young child with visual impairment
has little reason to explore interesting objects in the environment and thus
may miss opportunities to have experiences and learn, and that this lack of
exploration may continue until intervention.
Visual impairment puts children in a
disadvantaged position. Abosi and Ozoji (1981) pointed out the effects of
blindness to be: isolation, labelling, stress, disadvantage in acquisition of
normal experiences, loss of earning power, dependent status, loss of physical
integrity, loss of confidence in the remaining senses, and loss of visual
background. Human beings throughout
history have shown a wide range of negative attitudes towards those with
limited or no sight. Visually impaired persons like other people with
disabilities were neglected and abandoned in their homes. Some cultures view
people with disabilities and handicaps as having been cursed. Even today
thoughts of dependency, uselessness, punishment, darkness and evil arise among
those not acquainted with persons without sight.
The traditional belief that regards
children with visual impairment as those who cannot offer anything tangible,
and the notion that the blind are supposed to be beggars, as well as shame
exhibited by families and relations of visually impaired children have affected
the number going to school. Ajani (n. d.) noted that in African and Asian
countries only between five and seven percent blind children attend school.
All these obstacles and negative
attitudes have placed the visually impaired in a disadvantaged position in
society. The nature of disability of people with visual impairment makes them
more vulnerable to educational deprivation or inaccessibility, being neglected,
discriminated against and shut off from the world of information, since they
are unable to see and read print materials. The most viable way to help the
visually impaired persons come out of this disadvantaged position is through
the provision of educational facilities.
Education is the key to overcoming
the challenges of visual impairment and achieving success. Moreover, it is a
human right that should be accorded to all human beings. The UN Convention on
the Right of the Child (1990) in article 23(3) states that efforts should be
made to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives
education, training, health care services, preparation for employment and
recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the
fullest possible social integration and individual development. From the
foregoing, it is obvious that education is the way forward for producing
successful contributing members of the society. With the provision of better
education opportunities, proper and suitable resources and adequate support,
the visually impaired will fulfill their potential and achieve greatness.
The importance of formal education
to the visually impaired cannot be over-emphasized. Reasons abound why visually
impaired persons should acquire education. First, education helps them overcome
their visual disabilities and improve their lives and social status. Secondly,
it is a means of empowering and making them become independent and
self-reliant. At the same time, it enables them to contribute their quota to
national development if they are employed or engaged in productive ventures.
Ajani (n. d.) argued that improving life for visually impaired persons rests in
education, as this is a vital gateway to job opportunities, socio-economic
integration and normalization. According to him, through education, many blind
people have secured high profile employment such as lawyers, judges, engineers,
industrialists, teachers, and so on. He mentioned some blind Nigerians who have
excelled in their chosen professions, like Professor Bitrus Gani, a blind
lecturer in physiotherapy at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria; Barrister Bashiru
Danlami, a Lagos-based lawyer and legal practitioner; Chief Samuel Okubanjo, a
school proprietor and philanthropist; and so on. This is a clear evidence of
the necessity of harnessing the innate potentials in people with visual
impairment through education.
Education of the visually impaired
starts from the primary level. Primary education is the level of education
given at the beginning of one’s educational development. The National Policy on
Education (2004) defines it as the education given in institutions for children
aged six to eleven plus. Its duration is six years. It is the key to success or
failure of the whole education system since other levels rest on it.
The goals of primary education are:
to inculcate permanent literacy and numeracy and communicate effectively; lay a
sound basis for scientific and reflective thinking; give citizenship education;
mould character; develop in the child the ability to adapt to changing
environment; give the child opportunities for developing manipulative skills
and provide the child with basic tools for further educational development
(NPE, 2004). In line with these goals the International Council for Education
of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) mounted a campaign tagged Education
for All Child with Visual Impairment (EFA-VI). It is a global campaign and
programme of the International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment
(ICEVI) in partnership with World Blind Union (WBU) to ensure that all boys and
girls with blindness and low vision enjoy the right to education. The campaign
launched in 2006 focuses on children in developing countries, where it is
estimated that less than ten percent have access to education.
In pursuance of the goals of primary education, the National
Policy on Education specifies school libraries as one of the educational
services. School libraries play a very important role in the educational
development of children by providing library and information resources for
teaching and learning. Generally, libraries house information resources. A
library is a collection of resources in a variety of formats that is organized
by information professionals or other experts, who provide convenient physical,
digital, bibliographic or intellectual access, and offer targeted services and
programmes, with the mission of education, informing or entertaining a variety
of audiences, and the goal of stimulating individual learning and advancing
society as a whole (Whole Library Handbook, n. d.). Obviously, libraries,
including libraries for the visually impaired, are expected to contain a
variety of resources in different formats in order to meet the varying needs of
users. Provision of information resources in the libraries play a significant
role in their utilization.
The aims of school library are to
participate effectively in school programmes to meet the needs of pupils,
provide them with library materials and services, stimulate and guide pupils in
their reading, provide an opportunity through library experience for pupils to
develop helpful interest, help children and young people to become skillful
users of libraries and work with teachers in the selection and use of all types
of library materials (Usoro and Usanga, 2007)
Given the importance of library
resources in the educational development of an individual, what is the
availability of these resources in libraries, especially in developing
countries like Nigeria? Library resources constitute the totality of the
library holdings, which include print and non- print materials in various
formats and ICT resources, with which the library meets the information needs of
users. Majority of library resources are in print. Since the visually impaired
cannot access information in print, there is need to repackage information in a
format suitable to them, that is, in alternative formats. Alternative formats
include Braille, audio/talking materials, large prints and ICT resources.
Ajobiewe (1999) was of the opinion that the provision and use of alternative
formats such as Braille, large prints, talking books and the availability of
reading aids, volunteers and transcription services in libraries servicing
persons with visual impairment in Nigeria would go a long way in making
information accessible to the blind and partially sighted users.
Braille, which is the oldest format
involves the use of the sense of touch. Louis Braille, who was the inventor and
designer of Braille writing, became blind when he accidentally stabbed himself
in the eye. Braille is a system of reading and writing whereby organized raised
dots are used to represent letters and numerals that are read by touching. This
was a great innovation that for the first time blind people could read. It
appears to be better for young people whose fingertips are more sensitive. A
major problem with Braille is that its production is laborious and expensive,
thus a limited quantity of materials are produced, and these do not meet the
needs of increasing number of visually impaired pupils in schools.
Audio/talking resources are another
means by which the visually impaired access information. Audio resources
involve the use of sense of hearing. They are audio recordings on tapes,
cassettes and compact disks from books and other materials which the visually
impaired can listen to, thereby providing them the opportunity of reading
through listening. Audio resources are easier and less expensive to produce.
They are mainly used by older people and those who met their blindness later in
life. Large print materials on the other
hand are materials that have their print size enlarged. They are meant to be
used by people with low vision.
In recent times, Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has provided new possibilities and great
potential in terms of information resources and facilities for the visually
impaired. A wide range of ICT facilities, also called assistive or adaptive
technologies, now exist to provide
access to information, giving visually impaired users equal opportunity as the
sighted. ICT is a faster means of accessing information but expensive. Software
are available to enable visually impaired learners access information. Some of
these software are : screen reading software e.g. JAWS, screen magnification
software e. g. Zoomtext and web access software e. g. Connect Outloud.
Provision of information resources
for visually impaired pupils is viewed from two angles: production and
distribution. The production of alternative formats is cumbersome,
labour-intensive and require specialized skills that not every publisher can
embark on. The nature of alternative formats demands that they be produced by
specialized libraries or agencies. There are some organizations that produce
information resources for the visually impaired in Nigeria. These include: Nigerwives
Braille Book Production Centre Lagos, Anglo-Nigerian Welfare Association for
the Blind (ANWAB) Lagos, Gindiri Materials Centre for the Visually Handicapped
near Jos, Vocational Training Centre for the Blind Oshodi and Hope for the
Blind Zaria.
Nigerwives is an association of
foreign women married to Nigerian men with a Braille Book Production Centre in
Lagos. The association produces primary and secondary school textbooks in
Braille as prescribed by Ministry of Education and sends these to its state
branches which in turn send them to schools that need them, mainly on request.
These Braille books are also offered for sale at the same price as of the print
books.
The Anglo-Nigerian Welfare
Association for the Blind is another organization that operates in Lagos. Its
main objective is to alleviate the educational problems of the blind by making
Braille books available at a cheaper rate. Thus, the centre produces textbooks
in Braille which it donates and sells at cheaper rate to schools that need
them.
Gindiri Materials Centre for the
Visually Handicapped adopts a community- based rehabilitation approach to
provide services to visually impaired persons in Gindiri, near Jos. The centre
produces Braille books in English and Hausa at all levels of education. The
books are available at the lending library and are also sold at subsidized
rates.
Hope for the Blind, Zaria and
Vocational Training Centre for the Blind Oshodi also produce reading materials for
blind students. Ajobiewe (1999) noted that beside the above centres, there are
few institutions/libraries that also produce information materials for the
visually impaired. Among these are Pacelli School for the Blind, Lagos and
Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo. Some of the resources can also be
produced in-house.
Considering the location of these
centres for the production of information resources for the visually impaired,
it is obvious that none of them is located in South East Nigeria. This has
implications for the provision of information resources for visually impaired
pupils in the zone.
With regards to distribution of
information resources, the government is expected to play a key role. Since the
centres are operating on the principle of free education, it is the
responsibility of government to provide information resources, just as is the
case in schools for the sighted. It is expected that the government procure
these resources from the production centres and send them to the special
schools. The extent to which this is done, especially in the South East, is yet
to be determined.
Another way of making information
resources available in special education centres is through donation. Some
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) like Nigerwives and Anglo-Nigerian
Welfare Association for the Blind (ANWAB) donate alternative resources to the
special education centres. International agencies like Torch Trust of USA also
provide resources to the centres. The efforts of these NGOs and international
agencies supplement those of government in providing learning resources for the
visually impaired. If these resources are provided, pupils will be highly
motivated to use them.
Use of information resources is very
important for the educational development of visually impaired pupils. It is
through the use of these resources that visually impaired pupils acquire
literacy skill and access information that enhance learning. These resources
could also be used for recreational
reading, that is reading for pleasure and personal development. Visually
impaired pupils can also read the resources for spiritual inspiration and as
hobbies. As visually impaired pupils use information resources variously, they
are helped to overcome their disability.
Provision
of information resources to the visually
impaired in libraries of the developed countries like America, Britain, Australia,
Canada and Netherlands is well established. They have established national
libraries that adequately cater for the information needs of visually impaired
readers. Library services rendered have been enhanced tremendously in volume
and in formats. (Iweha,2003)
The situation in Africa is in contrast. Alemna
(n. d.) noted that in most African countries, established and organized library
services to the visually impaired is almost non-existent. In Nigeria the
situation may not be different from other African countries. Atinmo (2000)
observed that library and information services to visually handicapped persons
in Nigeria were almost negligible. She pointed out that the Nigerian government
has been negligent in fulfilling that part of its educational policy which
promised to equalize educational opportunities for all children regardless of
their physical, mental and emotional disabilities. This neglect could be in the
area of providing adequate reading materials in alternative formats. Unless
information resources are provided in alternative formats, the goals of primary
education would be difficult to achieve with regards to visually impaired
children. This is because majority of information resources that aid learning
exist in a format they cannot access. The consequence of this is manifested in
low educational attainment, as evidenced in the work of Ezenweke (2007) who
noted that the academic achievement of visually impaired students in Southeast
and Nigeria at large was unsatisfactory.
To achieve the goals of primary
education with regards to visually impaired children, government has
established special education centres in different parts of the country. Four special education centres/schools have
been established in the zone. These are:
– Special
Education Centre for the Blind, Afara-Ukwu, Umuahia, Abia
State.
– Basden
Memorial Special Education Centre, Isulo, Anambra State.
– Special
Education Centre, Opefia, Izzi L.G.A Ebonyi State.
– Special
Education Centre, Oji River, Enugu State.
Ideally,
it is expected that these centres would provide a variety of information
resources in various formats. However, the level of provision of these
resources in these centres is yet to be determined. Though not much has been
written on information resources provision for the visually impaired in the zone,
it can be inferred that it is only through the provision of alternative formats
of information resources that the information needs of visually impaired pupils
can be met. The major task of this study therefore is to determine the
provision and use of library and information resources by visually impaired
primary school pupils in South East Nigeria.
Statement
of the Problem
Children
with visual impairment need to acquire education that will make them
independent, self-reliant and contributing members of the society. This can
only be achieved by means of education which is facilitated through the
provision of library and information resources for teaching and learning. Except
information resources are repackaged in alternative formats that visually
impaired pupils can access, they will remain cut off from the world of
information and hence deprived of education
