Ministry of Education to Ensure Timely Supply of Braille Textbooks... Guaranteeing Educational Rights for Visually Impaired Students

On April 15, MOU Signed Between Ministry of Education and Publishers

"Timely Supply of Braille Textbooks Before the Start of the Semester"

The Ministry of Education has announced plans to supply braille textbooks for visually impaired students before the start of each semester, aiming to guarantee their right to education to the fullest extent.

On April 15, the Ministry of Education stated that it would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for "Ensuring the Right to Learn for Visually Impaired Students and Timely Supply of Braille Textbooks" at Seoul School for the Blind, together with the Korea Textbook Association and 81 major textbook publishers.

This agreement was established to bridge educational gaps for students with disabilities and to guarantee their substantive right to education. Despite the efforts of the National Institute of Special Education and publishers, the time-intensive process of producing braille textbooks has made it difficult to distribute them by the start of the semester.

As a result, on March 31, the National Assembly passed a partial amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to ensure the timely supply of braille textbooks. The amendment requires the Minister of Education and superintendents of education to provide braille textbooks and related materials in a timely manner before the start of the semester. It also provides a legal basis for requesting publishers to submit digital files for the production of braille textbooks. The amendment will be applied starting with the distribution of braille textbooks for the first semester of next year. The Ministry of Education plans to revise subordinate regulations, such as the "Regulation on Educational Textbooks," to specify the format and procedures for submitting digital files needed to produce braille textbooks.

By proactively signing the agreement ahead of the law’s implementation, the Ministry of Education expects that all students and teachers who need braille textbooks will be able to receive them without delay at the beginning of the new semester.

Choi Eunok, Vice Minister of Education, stated, "This legal amendment and public-private cooperation will be a crucial turning point in substantively guaranteeing the right to learn for visually impaired students," adding, "We will work closely with relevant organizations to improve the quality of braille textbooks and establish a stable system for their timely distribution."

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