“Most of them have completed their basic education, and a few have also gone on to acquire a Master’s degree and yet they find themselves unable to land a job,” says Leela Nair, the Director of the Venu Institute of Universal Education (VIUE) that has taken on the responsibility of training these students to become employable.

Titled ‘New Economy Skills’, the one-year diploma course strives to ensure that these students not only learn basic computing skills but also reach a level of comfort in the English language. “We tell them that they have to be confident about speaking in English, and we have noticed that once they are comfortable communicating in English, they also become more confident as individuals,” explains Nair.

The 12 students are from all over the country. There’s Deepak Sahu from Chhattisgarh, Raj Kapoor from Pakistan, Ajit from Bihar and others from Delhi.

While the course is priced at a nominal Rs 6,100 per year, students are never turned away for being unable to pay. Three amongst the 12 students have received a full scholarship and a few others have got partial sponsorships. Nair says all students can’t be sponsored and “it gets difficult to raise the funds when many people aren’t aware of what we do here,” she says.

VIUE, a unit of the Venu Eye Institute and its charitable trust, also assists students in finding suitable employment once they complete the course. “A student from the last batch found work in the Medical Transcription industry and is doing very well. Another went on to become a Radio Jockey,” Nair says.

However, it is more than just acquiring skills and landing jobs. For most of these students, it is the first time that they get to interact with others with similar disabilities and that helps them come to terms with their own problems. “We’ve become a great support to each other and have even reached out to groups with similar interests on the Internet,” says Deepak Sahu, a student. .

The computer laboratory, Nair chips in, is well equipped with the latest technology to assist those with visual disabilities. “We have software that read out whatever is on the screen or provide instruction to understand keyboard functions. We even have a Braille printer,” says Hitendra Rupani, the computer instructor who is visually challenged.

The VIUE is affiliated to the Jamia Hamdard University and students get a certification from the university when they complete the course. Future plans, Nair says, are to upgrade the current syllabus to a more wholesome degree course. The institute also intends to start training modules for Radio Jockeying and Medical Transcription.