[A2k] Alberta lauded for progress on education for visually impaired students

[Robert Martinengo]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/05/18/alberta-visually-impaire=
d-students.html

Visually impaired students in Alberta say there has been a huge
improvement in how the province's education system gets the right
textbooks to them on time.
CBC News reported about the delays and refusals by Alberta Education
in providing braille textbooks to the more than 600 students who need
them.
But after consulting students, their parents and teachers, the
department has made some big changes.
Olga Knight, the mother of a visually impaired student at a Calgary
high school, says the progress has been great.
"The comment that everyone has made was the textbooks have been on
time, meaning at the same time as other students receive their
textbooks =97 it has been phenomenal," Knight said.
She attributes the change to Education Minister Dave Hancock. [His
secret?]  Hancock allocated an extra $9 million to help these
students.
The money is being used to hire extra people to make braille books and
on specialized reading equipment, the province says.