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Seen from behind, six boys walk across a dirt yard with arms around each other's shoulders

Kolkata

Kolkata Blind School

January 2011

Calcutta Blind School is a coeducational institution for students who are blind or have low vision. Located on Diamond Harbour Road in Behala, Kolkata, the school provides specialized education designed to support literacy, independence, and participation in daily life.

The school was founded in 1894 by Reverend Lal Behari Shah. More than a century later, it remains an important part of the history of education for people with visual impairments in eastern India. A commemorative postage stamp was issued in 1994 to mark the school’s centenary.

Braille is central to many forms of education for students who are blind. It is a tactile writing system rather than a language, allowing letters, numbers, punctuation, and other symbols to be read through patterns of raised dots. Bharati Braille provides coordinated Braille codes for several Indian languages.

Photographs taken at the school in 2011 document students reading embossed Braille pages, using tactile writing materials, participating in classroom instruction and physical exercise, and interacting with teachers and classmates. Together, the images record both specialized learning methods and the wider social environment of the school.

Fingers setting metal type pegs into a wooden tactile learning frame
Schoolchildren in blue uniforms stretching their arms out during outdoor exercise, a teacher in a sari among them
Smiling boy in a blue checked school shirt against a pale yellow wall
A teacher guides a girl's hand over a wooden board at a classroom desk
Young woman in a blue uniform and shawl smiling, classmates blurred behind her
Girl in a blue shawl over a checked uniform, laughing beside a bare wall
Boy in a dark cardigan and checked shirt standing quietly, eyes closed
Grinning student whose uniform badge reads "Blind School, Thakurpukur"
Five students in blue checked uniforms crowded together by a barred window
Student reading an embossed Braille page with both hands, a red Braille slate beside her
Resting his arms on a wooden chair back, a boy in a blue cardigan looks down
A hand resting on the raised dots of an open Braille book on a worn desk
Hands pressing a stylus into a Braille slate to punch dots into paper
Student in a checked uniform tracing a line of Braille on an embossed page at a wooden desk
Smiling student in a green school sweater with both hands resting on a Braille sheet
Two girls in navy uniforms reading Braille pages with their fingertips at a shared desk
Boy in a blue checked uniform with a school crest badge, standing at a classroom desk
Three boys in red, grey and mustard sweaters sitting side by side on a veranda
Six boys walking arm in arm along a paved path beside a weathered wall
Seen from behind, six boys walk across a dirt yard with arms around each other's shoulders
Girl in a green sweater and blue scarf holding her arms outstretched during exercises
Boy with white-blond hair and very pale skin in a navy school jumper, a classmate behind him
Smiling boy in a navy jumper looking downward as other students pass behind
Children stretching their arms sideways in a courtyard while a teacher in a sari leads them
Boy raising both arms overhead in a line of students doing morning exercises
Pupils crouching with arms extended forward during exercises on a concrete yard

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