Blind teacher creates braille teaching aid using egg trays, ping pong balls

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 22 (Bernama) -- Using only egg trays and ping pong balls, a visually-impaired teacher managed to create a teaching aid to facilitate students to learn Braille.

Iran Shah Ramatullah, 39, who is teaching at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Pendidikan Khas Setapak, was announced the winner of the 3-Minute PdP (teaching and learning) Pitching under the special education individual category today.

He received his winning prize from Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin.

“The idea to create Braille Magic Cell occurred to me when one of my students found it difficult to learn Braille…so I used egg trays and ping pong balls to make it easier for him to learn Braille and Jawi Braille,” he told reporters when met after the prize giving ceremony.  

He said his innovation allows students to learn the alphabet and train their fingers to recognise objects.

Meanwhile, Noorhasliza Mohamad, who was named the winner of the group category for ‘Kit Abang Sado’, said the 3-Minute PdP Pitching allowed teachers to be more creative in the PdP process, making it more interesting for the students.

Attached with SMK Sultan Sulaiman, Terengganu, the teacher said ‘Kit Abang Sado’ contained items made from recycled materials such as ice cream sticks to make it easier for students to understand the human arm structure.

Noorhasliza who created the kit with the help of a fellow teacher, Sharifah Hidayah Syed Taufik, said they will allow other teachers to use the kit to teach their students.

Radzi in his speech said he encouraged teachers to create innovations that can improve the PdP process in line with the current educational technology shift.

"We need more teachers to come up with innovations to make the learning environment at school better and more fun," he said.

The 3-Minute PdP Pitching is aimed at encouraging pre-school, primary, secondary and special education teachers to be innovative in creating diversified classroom pedagogy.

-- BERNAMA