Center for the Blind and visually impaired children and youth

A Center for the Blind and visually impaired children and youth is a public institution for education of blind students from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was established in 1947, but had been operating as the Institute for Blind Children.

Complex activities of the Center, in all its segments,  aim to enable the blind and visually impaired for independent living.

Center organizes and conducts support for pre-school education, education in elementary school and the education of blind and visually impaired youth in order to acquire professions, offering retraining, rehabilitation and re-socialization of the students who lost their sight during educational process or later in life.

Classes are held at regular curriculum that is in force in Canton Sarajevo and, in some cases, the customised curriculum has been used.

High school programs include departments for physiotherapists (IV degree), telephone operators (IV), the business secretaries (IV), telephonists (III) and product packers (II).

Children come from all over the country, the majority dwell in the boarding school, while children from Sarajevo come only for classes.

In addition to regular classes, students are offered all day support in learning and everyday skils development.

Extra-curricular activities are numerous, including:

- sections such as orchestra, ecological, geographical, historical, sports, literary and journalistic sections,, league of sobriety, puppetry, debate club, as well as the sections on informatics, English, German, math, etc.;

- enhanced usage of computers (programs for the blind and visually impaired), work and play on computers starting from the second class. Each classroom possesses a computer, and high speed internet is available at  several locations;

- orientation and mobility, vision exercises, assistive devices' usage, daily living skills development, individual trainings on Braille alphabet;

- physical therapy at the educational cabinet which is performed by our students in cooperation with Medical institute for physical therapy;

- horseback riding, swimming, going out, etc.

These activities leave a little time and space for children's idleness.

Teaching staff is trained and qualified, and the Center has extensive experience working with blind and visually impaired people.

The Center offers the following professional aid to mainstream school's teachers and children with visual impairments attending these schools:

-  preparing individual programs for children;

- supplying necessary assistive devices;

- adjusting books and texts;

- visiting and providing support to schools and homes of children with visual impairments, aiming to help them acquiring better conditions for  education and daily life (light, table tilt , the seating arrangement in the classroom ...);

- offering various rehabilitation trainnings (vision exercises aimed to help children use the remained sight, Braille alphabet learning, specialized software usage, orientation and mobility trainning, etc.);

- introducing specific characteristics of children with visual impairments to the mainstream schools' teachers.

Within the Center, there is also a printing office providing teachers and students with the materials printed in Braille or enlarged print.

Centar za slijepu i slabovidnu djecu i omladinu,

Adresa: Ramiza Salcina 6. Sarajevo Bosna i Hercegovina,

Telefoni: +38733460745, +38733473019 Fax: +38733473020,

Email: infocentra@epn.ba