Ministry of Education Supports Purchase Costs for Assistive Technology Devices for Disabled University Students' Remote Classes

Average Support of 15 Million KRW per University for 107 Universities
Applications Accepted by National Institute for Lifelong Education until the 26th

Clockwise: Braille information terminal, Braille printer, text interpretation program and tablet, desktop magnifying reader

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] University students with disabilities will be able to borrow braille information terminals, text interpretation tablets, and other devices necessary for remote classes from their universities.

On the 16th, the Ministry of Education and the National Institute for Lifelong Education announced the "2021 Support Plan for Remote Class Enrollment for University Students with Disabilities" to strengthen the learning rights of disabled university students taking remote classes. The plan includes providing an average of 15 million KRW per school for the purchase of assistive devices according to the type of disability.

Budget support of up to 1.5 billion KRW will be provided to 107 universities that have actively established support systems for students with disabilities. These universities were rated as excellent or outstanding in the "2020 Evaluation of Educational Welfare Support for University Students with Disabilities."

When universities purchase devices considering the needs of students with visual, hearing, or physical disabilities, students can apply for and borrow the devices. Eligible universities should identify the list of devices they wish to acquire and the required costs and apply to the National Institute for Lifelong Education by the 26th. The institute will evaluate the number of disabled students at the applying universities and determine the scale of support.

Assistive devices for remote classes include braille information terminals that allow visually impaired individuals to input and output documents in braille and voice, braille labelers capable of producing braille levels on PCs, braille printers that output converted text and braille information, SenseReader devices that display screen content on braille displays, desktop magnifiers, tablet magnifiers, text interpretation programs and tablets, FM receivers that enable hearing aid users to transmit and receive without noise, and one-handed keyboards.

Jeon Jin-seok, Director of Student Support at the Ministry of Education, said, "Since 2005, we have supported educational support personnel through the Disabled University Students Educational Activity Support Project. With the establishment of the 'Support Project for Remote Class Enrollment for Disabled University Students,' we expect to complement the support for assistive technology devices and strengthen the learning rights of disabled university students."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.