Annual Report 2025–26

New Initiatives

Deepening access

01

ECCE

Early childhood care & Education

02

Wipro earthian

Environmental education through accessible and experiential learning​

03

ARC

Accessible Resource Centre: Experiential STEM learning

04

ARC on Wheels

Mobile extension of the Accessible Resource Centre

ECCE : Early childhood care & Education

The early years shape a child’s lifelong learning journey. Nearly 80% of brain development happens before the age of three, making early childhood a critical period for building foundational skills.

For children with visual impairments, early learning must be intentional, tactile, sensory-rich, and responsive. Since they may not learn incidentally through visual observation, methods designed for sighted children, such as showing, pointing, or visual demonstration, often do not meet their learning needs.

Vision Empower’s Accessible and Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education programme supports young children with visual impairments through meaningful activities that build foundational skills for school and life. It focuses on school readiness by strengthening concept formation, sensory exploration, motor development, language, self-help routines, social interaction, and pre-Braille readiness, preparing children for a smoother transition into formal schooling.

The programme helps teachers and caregivers through practical training, classroom mentoring, parent orientation, and simple home-based activities so that learning continues beyond the classroom.

Successful Pilot Implementation

The ECCE programme was successfully piloted across selected schools, enabling real-time testing, classroom integration, and refinement of activities based on children’s needs and classroom experiences.

Children with visual impairments exploring a tactile learning activity

Reach

6

STATES

10

SCHOOLS

60

STUDENTS

3

TEACHER WORKSHOPS

10

TEACHERS TRAINED
“The ECCE programme supports children’s conceptual, mental, and holistic development through meaningful activities. The resources and guidance provided to parents and teachers help nurture children’s overall growth.”
Parent
“Through Vision Empower’s ECCE programme, I learned to adapt learning to each child’s pace, making it more joyful and meaningful. It has strengthened my ability to support children’s confidence and independence."
Teacher
“Being part of the pilot batch was a deeply enriching experience. It strengthened my patience, creativity, and belief in joyful, inclusive learning for children with visual impairments.”
Teacher

Accessible STEM Ecosystem

3

Experiential Zones

Functional

22

Accessible Science Labs

Currently operating across states, with more being developed, enabling students to move from theory-based learning to experiential, hands-on STEM learning

Teacher Instruction Kits (TIKs)

Provided ready-to-use resources for delivering accessible and engaging STEM lessons in special schools

Wipro earthian

Vision Empower's collaboration with Wipro Foundation through the Wipro earthian programme created opportunities for children with visual impairments to engage with environmental education through accessible and experiential learning.

The initiative enabled students to explore sustainability, biodiversity, waste management, natural resources, and environmental responsibility through hands-on activities, discussions, observations, and collaborative projects adapted for visually impaired learners.

Schoolgirls participating in an environmental learning activity

Accessible STEM Ecosystem

Meaningful engagement

The programme helped students with visual impairments engage meaningfully with environmental education and sustainability.

Meaningful exploration

Through accessible activities and discussions, students explored themes such as biodiversity, waste management, water conservation, and natural resources, while also participating in larger sustainability conversations alongside their sighted peers.

Recognition

Two accessible Wipro earthian booklets on sustainability themes were launched to support inclusive environmental learning.

Booklets launched

Two accessible Wipro earthian booklets on sustainability themes were launched to support inclusive environmental learning.

Nature Corners

Four Inclusive Nature Corners are under development across partner schools, creating accessible spaces for biodiversity, sensory exploration, and nature-based learning.

Reach

87+

STUDENTS

14+

SCHOOLS

10

STATES
Pictures showcasing Earthian event
Photograph description : 1) Students concentrating and showing their activities during the Wipro earthian exhibition. 2) Dr Ravi Chellam answering a question asked by Subrat Kumar Das of LBS. 3) Students, associate teacher Mr. Laxmikant Pradhan, the LBS senior coordinator, Smita Panda with Dr. Ravi Chellam, a noted wildlife biologist and conservationist and Monica Fatogun from Vision Empower during the awards.

Accessible Resource Centre (ARC)

The Accessible Resource Centre at IIIT Bangalore began with a simple but important question: What if Science and Mathematics could be explored in ways that truly include children with visual impairments?

Established on 6 March 2025 by Vision Empower in collaboration with the Centre For Accessibility In The Global South (CAGS) at IIIT Bangalore, ARC is a space where students experience STEM learning through tactile, experiential, and accessible approaches.

ARC serves as a hub for training, resource sharing, innovation, and ongoing support. It brings together students, teachers, researchers, volunteers, team members, and partners who believe that learning should be accessible to everyone.

Photograph of school students at ARC, seated around the tables, engaged in activiites with adults helping.

Reach

578

STUDENTS

experienced ARC

WORKSHOPS

teacher training, capacity-building, external workshop engagements

CTiS 2025

Regional Conference hosted at ARC

VISION 30 LEARNING CAMP

17 students and 15 teachers/parents participanted

Building Team Capacity for Inclusive Math Learning

ARC also served as a capacity-building and knowledge exchange space during the year. A two-day hands-on workshop on accessible Mathematics introduced team members to tools and methods such as the Taylor Frame, Abacus, Nemeth Braille Code, and computer-based solutions for reading and writing Mathematics. The workshop strengthened internal capacity to support inclusive Math learning for children with visual impairments.

External Visits and Collaborations

In 2025 - 26, ARC hosted students, volunteers, visually impaired professionals, funders, prospective partners, academic institutions, and partner organisations including RLF, Vidya Sagar, Mitra Jyothi, HTBF and Mathruchhaya. These visits strengthened ARC’s role as a collaborative space for accessible STEM learning, resource sharing, and ecosystem engagement.

VE team members participating in a presentation/training session in ARC
“The ECCE programme supports children’s conceptual, mental, and holistic development through meaningful activities. The resources and guidance provided to parents and teachers help nurture children’s overall growth.”
Parent
“The ECCE programme supports children’s conceptual, mental, and holistic development through meaningful activities. The resources and guidance provided to parents and teachers help nurture children’s overall growth.”
Parent

ARC on Wheels

The Accessible Resource Centre at IIIT Bangalore began with a simple but important question: What if Science and Mathematics could be explored in ways that truly include children with visual impairments?

Established on 6 March 2025 by Vision Empower in collaboration with the Centre For Accessibility In The Global South (CAGS) at IIIT Bangalore, ARC is a space where students experience STEM learning through tactile, experiential, and accessible approaches.

ARC serves as a hub for training, resource sharing, innovation, and ongoing support. It brings together students, teachers, researchers, volunteers, team members, and partners who believe that learning should be accessible to everyone.

Reach

25

INTERVENTIONS

ARC on Wheels interventions conducted across Karnataka and Telangana

465

STUDENTS

participated

ACCESS

Students accessed hands-on STEM learning, assistive technologies, and experiential educational resources closer to their schools and communities

What does a heartbeat feel like?
How does day turn into night when you cannot see the sun?

For students at Afzalpur Blind School in Karnataka, Math and Science had often remained abstract concepts, largely limited to textbooks and verbal explanations. Through Vision Empower’s ARC on Wheels initiative, hands-on science learning was brought directly to their classroom.

Using tactile models and guided exploration, students experienced concepts that are usually taught visually. A tactile globe and simulated sun helped them understand the movement of day and night through touch and interaction. A modular heart model allowed them to explore the chambers of the heart with their fingers and understand anatomy in a more concrete and meaningful way.

The session reminded us that when teaching methods are made accessible, children are able to discover, question, and learn with confidence. ARC on Wheels continues to take such experiential STEM learning opportunities to schools, ensuring that geography and lack of infrastructure do not limit access to meaningful education.