In September 2023, the Director-General of the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) said they had initiated a project to translate all school textbooks into Braille format as a way of promoting inclusive education in the Rwandans learning ecosystem.
In 2021, Rwanda acceded to the Marrakesh Treaty, enhancing ongoing national efforts to promote and realize the rights of persons with disability, particularly the production and international transfer of specially-adapted books for people with blindness or visual impairment.
The treaty helps remove intellectual property hurdles that have traditionally been encountered while translating books to be accessible for people with visual impairment in the effort to alleviate a challenge known as 'book famine' especially for this category of people.
While the two steps are commendable, the implementation remains to be seen, especially because it is critically important to produce essential information in accessible designs, including in braille and audible formats.
The United Nations dedicated January 4 as World Braille Day with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and visually impaired people.
The UN defines Braille as a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. It is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font.
A decade ago, more than 57,000 people in Rwanda were blind. Just like other people with disabilities, this has not hindered them from contributing to the development of their families and the country. Imagine how much more potential would be unleashed if access to information was not as challenging.
The sooner we publish in braille, the sooner we can have everyone on board.
Specifically for our children in school, mass production of textbooks in braille will help them comfortably attend class alongside their other colleagues, giving a major boost to the inclusive education we all aspire to have.
