Hyderabad, The University of Hyderabad (UoH), and Help The Blind Foundation (HTBF), a non-governmental organisation that caters to the financial needs of college going students with visual impairment, entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday, to offer technologically oriented, employable skills for visually impaired students enrolled in various courses of the University.

HTBF and UoH will soon be launching a unique skill development training program, which is envisaged on four pillars: Education, Mobility, Employability & Training (EMET).

University Vice Chancellor Prof. B.J. Rao said "the paradox of the modern society in the 21st-century is that today the technology in our hands is ready to help us be independent, but we are not forthcoming either to help ourselves or help the technology make us to be independent".

The MoU between UoH and HTBF is an expression of interest by a public institution and a private charity to come together to work for the skill development and employability of one of the most marginalised groups of the country's youth -- students with visual impairment who have to struggle hard to attain even the minimum levels of college education and skill sets.

With the MoU now in place, Empowered Committee for Differently Abled Persons (ECDAP) at the UoH will be the nodal implementing agency of the training program. It is hoped that the existing infrastructure of assistive devices and software packages set up exclusively for visually impaired students on the campus will be a backbone for the proposed EMET initiative.