How much do we protect the white cane?

Within the White Cane Visually Impaired Week reminding that 2.2 billion people in the world have vision impairment or loss of vision according to the World Health Organization, Abdülkadir Gayretli stated that 86% of the visually impaired people are unemployed and talked about the importance of disabled employment. To the question "How much do we protect the white cane?" Gayretli answered: "We could not reach the desired point in the employment of the disabled."

“86% OF THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE ARE UNEMPLOYED”

Emphasizing that only 1578 persons with disabilities of 11,700 visually impaired applicants are employed in Turkey according to the data of İŞKUR, Abdülkadir Gayretli, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Istanbul Gelisim University, said: “86% of the visually impaired are unemployed. We have not reached the desired point in the employment of the disabled. Visually impaired people and the White Cane need to be protected more.”

“THEY CANNOT DETECT DISTANCE EDUCATION”

Pointing out that one of the most important problems faced by the visually impaired during the coronavirus epidemic is access to education, Gayretli said: “Visually impaired people cannot understand the lessons because there is no visual description in the course videos. Distance education videos should be edited in a way that visually impaired students can perceive.”

“WE MUST BE THEIR EYES”

Stating that they are ready for stakeholder projects with the White Cane Association of the Visually Impaired and many other associations, Gayretli said: “We should be able to touch the dreams and lives of the visually impaired. We are ready to cooperate with our instructors and our Continuing Education Center in projects that will enable them to participate more actively and successfully in business and school life. We have to be their eyes with projects integrated into distance education.”