New software helps impaired learners

PRINSHOF Combined School in Pretoria is a perfect example that, when fully applied, nothing can beat the mind.

The school teaches children who are visually impaired. Even more remarkable is that for the past 12 years the school has managed to achieve a 100percent matric pass rate.

Zelma Diedericks, information technology manager at the school, said they received a donation from the National Lottery in January this year to upgrade their facility.

"We received R459000 from the Lottery to upgrade our software," Diedericks said.

"We have been doing well for some time now with our matric results and what is even more admirable is that we have the same syllabus as schools for normal children.

"The fact that our children are visually impaired and have physical challenges goes to show hard work what the teachers put in."

The shool's computers have been installed with a software called Jaws and Magic, which is a big help for children with sight difficulties, Diedericks said.

"Jaws stands for job access with speech and it's really a big help to these children. A child would be typing something and if he gets the spelling wrong, a voice would make him aware that he misspelt it and offer solutions," she said.

The aim, according to Diedericks, is to prepare the pupils for the world of work once they leave school.

"Most companies do not have braille and it would be difficult for them to adjust out there. So this system will make things much easier for them," she said.

Tshepang Manyane, a Grade 12 pupil from Pretoria, said: "We have had the software for a while now and it's fantastic. With Magic, you can increase the font size so that your eyes are not strained and if you are typing on a word document, you can make the background black and the text white to make the words more visible."