Insight: Tamkeen aims to empower visually impaired people

Blind and visually impaired people can now enjoy greater independence and gain advice on job training with the help of Tamkeen, a new government initiative.

In addition to providing training and advice to UAE nationals and residents, Tamkeen which means empowerment will also try to change employer perceptions and make the professional environment across the UAE more conducive to a visually impaired person's productivity.

The project was launched under the directives of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Minister of Defence, and is being run by Knowledge Village in collaboration with the British Council.

Tamkeen tries to raise the professional skills of blind and partially sighted people in the UAE and has taken the lead in designing and delivering effective English courses for the visually impaired.

Late last month, the first batch of six students graduated from the unique English course for the blind and partially sighted at the Tamkeen Centre.

"The first batch of graduates were really brilliant and hardworking students," said Hamish Mackenzie, the manager of the Tamkeen Centre.

"They were eager to learn and enhance their skills and education capabilities. Tamkeen has helped them gain ability and self-confidence. Our students are even helping Emirates airlines develop their website to make it accessible for blind and visually impaired people.

"The new developments will help them place their booking through the use of a voicing system. They have even introduced five safety cards in Braille on each flight since last August."

Additionally, Mackenzie said visually impaired and blind people should start learning at an early age so they quickly adapt to special-education classes.

A source at Emirates confirmed the company is developing a new website that will be accessible through voice orders to blind and visually impaired people. The source said it would be launched soon.

Methods of teaching

"Tamkeen seeks to empower vision-impaired individuals in the UAE to lead productive and active lives by providing training, support and counselling in a wide range of fields," said Dr Abdullah Al Karam, chief executive of Knowledge Village and director of Tamkeen.

"We place special emphasis on communication skills at Tamkeen, and courses like this will form a major part of our offering."

There is a mixture of traditional and computer-assisted language-learning tools and highly advanced learning methods to deliver the course.

Some blind students are taught with Braille textbooks. Others are given speech software that reads the text out loud on a computer. Partially sighted students can learn with an enlarging system where letters are made big enough for them to read.

Part of Tamkeen's mission is to create better awareness of the abilities of vision-impaired people within the community to increase interaction and cooperation between the two.

"Our key objective is to become the focal point for vision-impaired UAE nationals and residents in matters relating to training, employment preparation, employment opportunities and career development," the project director said.

Tamkeen also seeks to increase the use of adaptive technology within the region and to provide users with more skills, he said.

"We are planning to approach the Ministry of Education to adopt this non-profit and free of charge programme in all academic institutes," Dr Al Karam said.

Manar Abdul Qader Al Hammadi, one of the graduates, is a UAE national woman with a bachelor's degree in sociology from Sharjah University. She praised the Tamkeen programme for helping visually impaired people enhance their skills in English and computing.

"We are learning how to use Windows, Microsoft Word and Excel as well as the internet and some other programmes. The programme enables us to use the computer through a special programme that transcribes what we type so that it comes out as audio."

Awatef Ahmad Akbari, who is the member relations' coordinator at Tamkeen, said: "Tamkeen has taken the lead in designing and delivering effective English-language courses for the visually impaired. It uses an interesting mix of traditional and computer-assisted language learning tools and highly advanced learning methodologies to deliver the course."

Dr Al Karam said: "In addition to providing training and advice to UAE nationals and residents, Tamkeen will also try to change employer perceptions and make the professional environment across the UAE more conducive to a visually impaired person's productivity."

The aim of the initiative is to offer visually impaired people an opportunity to play a more constructive role in the development of society at Knowledge Village.

KV, Emirates airline, HP, Microsoft, Biz-ability and the British Council support the initiative that was unveiled by Shaikh Mohammad in May.

Ahmad Bin Bayat, director-general of Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority, previously said: "The percentage of visually impaired people gainfully employed in the corporate sector is almost negligible. Tamkeen will change this by giving them tools and training.

"Tamkeen will empower them to take up a decent job in any professional environment and giving them the capability to be independent. Even though there are a number of centres and associations for the disabled in the UAE, there is a need for a dedicated centre that can provide professional services," he said.

Focus areas

Tamkeen focuses on three key areas of training in collaboration with some of the best names in the industry. In addressing the most vital area of communication skills, the organisation provides oral and written English-language training in partnership with the British Council.

Once a student attains proficiency in English, he or she then moves to a detailed IT training programme run in association with the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind.

The third area of training involves teaching such soft skills as personal development, interaction with colleagues and customers, sales techniques and presentation skills. Biz-ability, based at Dubai Media City, is handling this area of training at Tamkeen.

Objectives

• Tamkeen is a new training initiative for visually impaired people organised in collaboration with the British Council
• Tamkeen tries to raise the professional skills of blind and partially sighted people in the UAE and has taken the lead in designing and delivering effective English courses for the visually impaired
• Tamkeen evaluates students prior to enrolment and they are placed at the appropriate learning level
• There is a mixture of traditional and computer-assisted language learning tools and highly advanced learning methods to deliver the course
• Others are provided with speech software that reads the text out loud on a computer
• Partially sighted students can learn with an enlarging system where letters are big enough for them to read