Thiruvananthapuram Feb 21 PTI The National Institute of Speech and Hearing NISH will be developed as an all-India Centre of Excellence in rehabilitation of differently-abled persons Kerala Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice R Bindu said on Monday On a visit to the NISH campus in the city to review its activities and new projects Bindu said the proposal to elevate NISH as a university is under active consideration Through its clinical academic and research programmes NISH has made outstanding contributions to help differently-abled persons in Kerala and outside especially children with speech and hearing impairment to lead a normal life the minister said She said the government will encourage and support NISH to come out with new projects The institute has been provided with state-of-the art equipment and devices including hearing and speech therapy aids to enable it to effectively carry forward its activities This has made NISH a major national institution for early detection and correction of speech and hearing impairment among children the minister said Noting that NISH as a premier institute in the country has been conducting extensive academic and research programmes in its domain area for quite some time Bindu said it has also been in the forefront of creating public awareness about supporting the persons who need special care and attention by bringing out books pamphlets and videos on the subject The government has plans to make NISH a Centre of Excellence Bindu said The minister visited the campus to review the projects on the anvil as part of its silver jubilee celebrations said M Anjana IAS Executive Director NISH The minister has been extending total support to the activities of NISH she added The minister visited all the departments laboratories and therapy units at NISH and reviewed their functioning PTI TGB TGB HDA HDA

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], September 30 (ANI): Kerala Higher Education Minister Dr R Bindu released the first uniform sign language alphabet in Malayalam on Wednesday and said that it would bring a complete change in the life of hearing-impaired people.

Thiruvananthapuram Sep 29 PTI The first uniform sign language alphabet in Malayalam developed by deaf Indian Sign Language ISL experts was released here on Wednesday by Minister for Higher Education Dr R Bindu who said it would help bring about a qualitative change in the lives of those who are hearing impaired The minister speaking at the event held for release of the alphabet promised to consider implementing it in special schools Discussions will be initiated with the General Education Department regarding the use of Malayalam alphabet in sign language in special schools across the state Dr Bindu said while releasing the sign language alphabet developed by the National Institute of Speech and Hearing NISH in collaboration with All Kerala Association of the Deaf The minister said the development of the sign language alphabet in Malayalam was a proud achievement of the Social Justice Department and NISH and the result of the dedicated effort of NISH Currently English and Hindi have alphabets in sign language The newly developed alphabet in Malayalam will open up immense possibilities for the hearing impaired community she said The minister also said that the government will also make use of technology to ensure physical and mental support to the hearing-impaired and extend all support to NISH to help it become a global institution The Malayalam alphabet consisting of vowels and consonants is finger spelled in sign language and its primary phase has been designed exclusively for the deaf schools across Kerala a release issued by the Social Justice department said The new sign language alphabet in Malayalam will eliminate the challenge of teachers in conveying messages through lip movement it added PTI HMP APR APR