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Visually- impaired Tanya Balsara runs a certified computer institute in city today PURVA MEHRA M ICROSOFT Word, Excel and PowerPoint may be child's play to most, but for visually impaired Tanya Balsara it was all Greek. Learning Microsoft's simpler software's was a real milestone for her seven years ago, and now she runs her own institute, Tanya Computer Centre at Jogeshwari. A fresh graduate from St. Xavier's College in Sociology, Balsara started scouting for pursuits to fill up her time. Although the prospect of learning computers was daunting at first she enrolled for the Indian Association for the Visually Handicapped (IAVH), Churchgate, for a basic course in Microsoft Office and the Internet. "I even did a course in Announcing, Broadcasting, Compering and Dubbing (ABCD) from Xavier's Institute of Communications and helped dad at his ad agency," says 27-year-old Balsara. Ever since the completion of the computer course, Balsara decided that computer literacy is a must for the visually challenged. "Knowledge of computers itself is such a boon and if it makes you eligible for a job then it's a win-win situation," says Balsara. So, with help from her father, ad man Sam Balsara, she started her computer insti tute recently. The Institute started at the MNB Industrial Home for the Blind in July 2005 as a basic course in Microsoft Word and Excel, but within a year became one of the first institutions to get certified by the Maharashtra State Certificate for IT (MSCIT) in February 2007. "This certificate makes people eligible to government jobs and it's a shorter, more advanced course on Microsoft Access, Frontpage and Outlook," Balsara informs. Balsara herself teaches the basic course to a Class IX students that follows a duration of nine months, while the new MSCIT batch that will begin later this month will also have an external tutor for the 20 students employed. "Our only criterion for enrolling students is that they have a workable knowledge of English because we use JAWS, a screenreader software that requires a decent understanding of English," says Balsara, who generally encourages her students to undergo the basic course before they opt for the MSCIT. When she's not busy coaching her 17 to 56-year-old students on computer friendliness, Balsara spends her time unwinding over pop and retro music, chatting on Orkut, reading online newspapers, attending concerts and being a radio junkie. URL : http://70.86.150.130/indianexpress/ArticleText.aspx?article=23_04_2007_523_003 |
| Also see : Dementia & Alzheimer's, Public Health, Public Health : News Articles |
