SOUTH AFRICAN BRAILLE AUTHORITY
MINUTES
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 15-16 MAY 2014
Minutes of the meeting of the South African Braille Authority
(SABA) held on 15 & 16 May 2014 at the South African Library
for the Blind, 112B High Street, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South
Africa.
1 OPENING AND WELCOME BY THE SABA PRESIDENT AND THE DIRECTOR OF
THE SALB
The meeting was started with the singing of the National Anthem.
Thereafter the President of SABA, Mr Christo de Klerk, requested Mr
Francois Hendrikz, the Director of the South African Library for
the Blind (SALB), and host of the General assembly to address the
meeting.
Mr Hendrikz extended a warm word of welcome to all the delegates
present and expressed the hope that all persons present are members
of the library. He said that hosting the General Assembly of SABA
forms part of the 95th anniversary of the library and is part of
the celebrations for the whole year. Although the library is an old
institution that uses modern technology now, it was very proud of
its heritage and it was proud to also host this meeting as part of
the celebrations.
The events planned are all linked to the celebrations and
include hosting of the SA Library Association, an arts and crafts
exhibition from blind persons including creative and performing
arts during the July arts festival, partaking in the books festival
introducing the library to sighted people in Cape Town, and other
events during the year.
Mr Hendrikz further expanded on the history of the library and
how negotiations with the government were done in the early years
compared to how it is done today. He said that we can learn from
the older people that it is at times wise to start an action and
then to later engage the government providing the proof that the
original experiment did lead to a successful activity.
He wished SABA well in its early years and encouraged the
members and leadership to keep going regardless of set-backs at
times. He confirmed that the Library believes in braille and its
future and there is no way in which this belief is to be changed in
the foreseeable future regardless of the addition of modern audio
and other forms of reading.
The sighted person is still fascinated with braille and
therefore the existence of the Braille Authority is so important in
promoting and establishing the standards, the rules and guidelines
because this is how braille readers can communicate and read. The
Library for the Blind is committed to promote braille in everything
it does in expanding the braille collections. It is a worrying
factor that the readership of braille products is far lower than
that for audio. In his view this love of braille reading starts at
school where promoting the use of the medium should be encouraged
as far as possible. In research performed in the USA, it was found
that younger persons in general, just do not read anymore.
Therefore reading should be promoted amongst younger persons
especially the braille reader.
He finally wished SABA well and expressed the wish that the
conference will be productive.
The President of SABA wished the Library well during its 95th
birthday celebrations and expressed its support for the work being
done.
The President also welcomed all participants to the conference
and said that SABA wants people to participate and carry out the
message of braille.
2 PRESENT
A list of persons attending will be attached as annexure
one.
3 APOLOGIES
Apologies for unavoidable absence were received from Mr D
Greeff, Mr M Tshiovhe, the delegation from the Arthur Blaxall
School, the delegation from Botswana and Ms Schoeman of the
Department of Basic Education (DBE)
4 IN MEMORIAM
The names of Ms M Steyl, Ms A van Rooyen and a teacher from the
Tshilidzini School who passed away since the last General Assembly
were mentioned. A moment of silence was observed in memory of these
persons.
5 CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA
It was noted that item 15.3, supplements for SA languages Ms
Popplestone should be moved to item 17, Braille Codes in SA as the
item does not deal with local Manuals as indicated in item 15.
RESOLVED:
5.1 That the change proposed related to item 15.3 be noted and
that the agenda as circulated be adopted after this adjustment.
6 ADOPTION OF MINUTES
The minutes of the General Assembly of SABA held on 3 and 4
October 2013 in Pretoria were circulated to all members and tabled
for adoption.
RESOLVED:
6.1 That the minutes of the General Assembly held during October
2013 in Pretoria be adopted as a true record of the proceedings at
that meeting.
7FINANCE
7.1Financial Report
The financial report for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March
2014 was circulated and presented to the membership for
discussion.
RESOLVED:
7.1.1 That the financial report for the period ending 31 March
2014 as circulated be adopted by the meeting.
The President emphasised that, as can be seen, the funding of
SABA or the lack thereof is of utmost importance and a way must be
found to improve this situation.
7.2 Membership
The membership list and delegations as tabled was the status as
on the closing date for registrations. Several late registrations
were recorded on a later list circulated to the organising
committee on 12 May 2014 but which was not used at the meeting.
The President emphasised that the braille stakeholders should be
or get involved with the Authority. He encouraged delegations to
spread the word to as many interested persons and institutions as
possible.
Two aspiring braille producers were members during the previous
year, but did not renew their membership or send delegations to the
meeting. This is a sad state of affairs.
7.3 Fund raising efforts
Raising funds for the Authority is an ongoing struggle. Official
requests and proposals to the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC)
have not had any success in securing funding for SABA. The braille
report which was submitted almost two years ago has not led to any
outcome except the movement of the report to the different
departments. None of the many resolutions has been implemented to
date.
Pete Osborne, former President of ICEB, proposed that SABA
submit a proposal for roadshows to schools which can possibly be
supported by ICEB in refunding the SABA membership fee to ICEB for
this purpose. This has not materialised to date mainly because of
the resignation of Mr Osborne as President of ICEB losing thereby
his official support for the project.
The President appealed to members to please inform the Executive
Committee of any possible fund raising activity they think the
Executive Committee can embark upon.
On a question on how awareness for braille can be made a fund
raising activity, the President said that awareness generally
speaking is not a fund raising activity but can in the longer term
make it easier to do fund raising.
It was proposed from the floor that the braille awareness day on
4 January each year, be extended to possibly be an awareness month
in February or any other month when most people are back at home
and at work. The President reminded members that there used to be a
braille week during August where braille awareness was publicised.
This could be used again in future years.
It was also suggested that the Executive could look at events
being used in other ICEB countries and explained in the Country
Reports to possibly implement some of these activities in South
Africa.
7.4 Registration fees
The President reported that this matter has been on the agenda
twice and still the Authority has problems getting some members to
pay the registration fees.
He asked whether the members have a problem with the system and
whether it should be changed to make it easier for all
concerned.
It was suggested from the floor that the membership and
registration fees should be combined as it was, especially for
larger institutions, difficult to apply for payment three times per
year.
Alternatively it was stated that some schools just cannot pay
the annual membership fee plus the additional registration fees for
two General Assembly meetings and, for some reason, then do not
attend any or some of the meetings.
The meeting discussed these and other options and it was,
RESOLVED:
7.4.1That the annual membership fee for SABA will increase to
R490.00 for schools and R740.00 for other institutions and that
this annual membership fee will include all registrations for two
General Assembly meetings per year.
7.4.2That the increased membership fees will apply from 1 April
2015 to 31 March 2016 (the financial year) and that registration
fees will still have to be paid for the October 2014 General
Assembly meeting.
8 ADVOCACY COMMITTEE
It was reported that the Advocacy Committee of SABA is up and
running having already met on 28 September 2013 and 14 December
2013.
In terms of the Terms of Reference of the Advocacy Committee,
the members of the Committee had to be elected at the next General
Assembly or elective meeting in May 2014. The committee could not
wait for this date and in the meantime elected Mr Netshituni as
convener, and Mr de Klerk, Ms Donaldson, Mr Malatsi and Mr Moodley
as members until the next election.
The meeting then nominated members for the Advocacy Committee of
SABA and it was,
RESOLVED:
8.1That Mr Netshituni will serve as convener of the Advocacy
Committee and that Mr de Klerk, Ms Donaldson, Mr Moodley and Ms
Roos will serve as members of the committee.
The Braille Cup competition was discussed to be used as an
awareness tool and empowering purposes.
Further items including the marking of the different floors on
the outside of lifts were discussed. The meeting was informed that
the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) and the company installing lifts
were already contacted both of which responded to the
correspondence.
Further items discussed were the distribution of pamphlets and
information documents during the proposed road shows etc. but all
of this were still in very early stages of development.
During April 2014, the President was requested to present a
paper during an ICT conference in Sekunda run by GS College. The
paper presented, dealt with technology that could enhance the
learning and teaching experience in the classroom and was part of
the awareness for braille.
Unfortunately other participants spoke on the technology that
will make braille redundant but this statement was opposed
furiously during the presentation of the SABA President.
Members shared several awareness efforts to promote the
knowledge and use of braille even in fun situations as part of
literacy.
The President explained that, some time ago, the Advocacy
Committee discussed the possibility to arrange a braille
competition. This was intended to improve the quality of braille
and to promote and increase awareness of braille.
The last such competition took place during the Louis Braille
year. While thinking of arranging such a competition, the director
of the SANCB contacted the President enquiring whether a Braille
Cup competition could not be arranged in South Africa on the same
scale as being done by the Perkins School in the USA. Blind SA, the
SANCB and SABA then agreed to put the competition together. A
handbook was already received from the USA. This competition will
be far larger than the one run before and will consist of sections
on writing an essay, testing fluent reading of braille,
understanding of reading of braille material, correct
writing/spelling etc.
The three organisations involved nominated persons to be
involved in arranging the competition. The local leg of the
competition must be concluded before October to be in time for the
African leg of the competition.
To make it more competitive, attractive prizes will have to be
offered.
In a meeting during March 2014 held with the Deputy Minister of
the Department of Woman, Children and Persons with Disabilities
(DWCPD), this contest was mentioned. The Deputy Minister showed a
very keen interest in such a competition.
In answer to a question from the meeting regarding a similar
competition for adult braille readers, the president said that, at
present, the braille cup competition is for learners only but that
the matter of involving adult readers of braille should be looked
at in future.
9 THE QUALITY ASSURANCE STRUCTURE
The structure as proposed was set up and the guidelines were
circulated. No further activities have taken place to date but it
will be a very important structure in the future. It was planned to
attend mainly to the standardisation of braille and all functions
around this matter but first the Terms of Reference should be
prepared and approved. Because of the absence of the Terms of
Reference, the previously appointed persons on the committee will
continue as for the lack of a Terms of Reference and instructions
as to the election on the committee. More will be reported upon at
the next General Assembly meeting.
10 ACCREDITED BRAILLE COURSE
The Optima College of the South African National Council for the
Blind (SANCB) registered it as a Further Education and Training
(FET) structure. This college is seeking SA Quality Authority
(SAQA) accreditation for its various courses including the braille
course. This accreditation is in process at present especially
seeking compliance with various braille unit standards. This
process is still in its early stages of development of the course.
The SANCB is also inviting SABA to participate in the development
process.
At present the process is to train braille facilitators and
braille educators but this can change in future.
The meeting was informed that in the current unit standards,
there is a phrase that reads This does not apply to industrial
braille. This is interpreted as being braille produced by printing
presses. This can be an opportunity to train braille proof readers
and other braille workers including transcribers and alike.
The current unit standards are obviously very out of date
according to some items it refers to and must still be updated to
accommodate UBC.
SABAs involvement in the process was then discussed and it was
proposed that Mr Deena Moodley, Mr Eric Gama and Ms Pasha Alden
with their combined knowledge on the SAQA standards, developing
courses, instruction etc. be involved with the SANCB process.
Blind SA then remarked that it has two accredited assessors and
moderators employed and that the unit standards used were a more
recent version than what was referred to earlier. Blind SA is in
the process of developing course material based on this version of
the unit standards but that even these standards have to be further
updated.
It was then asked whether the envisaged training at the Optima
College should only concentrate on the training of facilitators and
educators and whether it should include the courses for the braille
workers employed in the production of braille. It was emphasised
that accredited courses are required by educators today and full
accreditation can just benefit all in the braille field.
RESOLVED:
10.1 That Mr D Moodley, Ms T Smith, Mr E Gama and Ms P Alden
will serve in the team already set up by the SANCB to establish all
aspects of the SAQA accreditation and unit standards related to
braille.
11 EDUCATION
The President commented that an invitation to attend the General
Assembly meeting was already circulated to the DBE during March
2014. The invitation included the agenda which allowed for
reporting on the DBEs actions to the SABA General Assembly. This
invitation was again repeated a week prior to the meeting but a
written report was only provided to the Secretariat on the day the
meeting started.
The meeting learnt on the second day of the meeting that Mr
Makhathala will represent the DBE and not Ms Schoeman as
expected.
It was a very unfair action of the DBE to subject Mr Makhathala
to such strain to report on a document presented to him the day
before, not giving him enough time to prepare for his presentation
on the items on the agenda.
Mr Makhathala explained that the delivery of accessible learning
and teaching support material to all schools for the visually
impaired learners was explained to the director involved. It was
agreed at this meeting that the director will check with all the
schools to establish their needs. This was to be done during
2014.
It was also agreed that the DBE will provide BrailleNote Apex
devices to all the schools, at least in the Gauteng Province on
which the textbooks and other material that the learners require
will be loaded.
The meeting expressed its shock on the proposed system. While
the DBE was in the process of trying to go the electronic braille
route without the agreement and advice of the Braille Authority of
South Africa, learners up to grade 12 was still sitting without
their textbooks outright violating the rights of learners in South
Africa.
Mr Makhathala told the meeting that he was informed that some
textbooks were transcribed into braille by the Pioneer Printers and
that they could directly purchase the required books from the
Pioneer Printers.
The meeting was further informed that the Pioneer Printers
received the go ahead from the Western Cape Provincial Education
Department to print the books, mainly English, Afrikaans and
Mathematics books just to get some of the textbooks to the
learners. Some other schools also reported that they managed to buy
some of these books with sponsorship from the Lottery Distribution
Trust Fund.
11.1 Capacity Building Programme of the DBE
No discussions.
11.1.1 Teacher Training in Grade 1 Braille as Part of Capacity
Building
It was again stated that this training was initially planned
from 2011 when the then Minister of Basic Education directed that
all teachers at special schools should know braille by 2014. Since
then various meetings and submissions have been put forward but
still nothing has happened. The meeting expressed its disgust with
this situation and said that this was one of the issues that have
now been taken to the Section 27 group of lawyers for equal
education.
11.1.2 Grade 2 Braille Teacher Training
No further discussions.
11.2School Textbooks in Braille
It was reported that a tender was issued by the DBE to all
braille producers for the printing of braille textbooks. The tender
requirements were however so harsh as to make it impossible for one
producer to meet the requirements set out. The result was that no
tenders were submitted to the DBE.
At a later stage, the DBE informed Blind SA that it will supply
it with a list of textbooks required and that it will supply the
order numbers for the production of the books. Braille Services
employed more staff to be able to meet this new capacity. The
latest promise for orders was received during April 2014, but with
no outcome so far.
Blind SA, the SANCB and SABA eventually resolved to take the
matter to Section 27, a group of lawyers standing for equal
education. This can lead to an action of taking the Department of
Basic Education (DBE) to Court on this matter of the provision of
textbooks in braille.
Section 27 engaged with the DBE for a meeting to discuss the
matter but no response was so far received from the DBE. It was now
decided to enter into litigation.
The meeting was clear in stating again that a braille reading
learner cannot be taught properly and given homework to do because
the learner can only do it if textbooks were available. This was
confirmed by a teacher present in the meeting.
It was also confirmed by the meeting that a teacher who does not
know braille, cannot teach a learner to read or write meaningfully.
It was also asked what other methods exist to teach a braille
reading learner.
RESOLVED:
11.2.1That the following questions be put to the SABA General
mailing list for feedback from list members but especially from
teachers i.e.
1. Can a learner be given homework to do if no textbook in
braille is available to prepare the homework from?
2. Can a teacher not knowing braille at all teach a learner to
read and write meaningfully, and
3. Are there ways of teaching a braille reading learner without
the use of textbooks at the disposal of the learner?
The meeting agreed that the message Mr Makhathala should take
back to the DBE is that the braille sector wants to see appropriate
action, not reports and submissions; if no action is forthcoming,
litigation will follow.
12 MUSIC BRAILLE
12.1Music List
It was reported that little activity is seen on the music list.
List members requested that the mailing list be maintained
regardless of the little activity on it.
A list of names was received from the South African Braille
Music Library and those without e-mail addresses will be contacted
by telephone to enquire on their interest in such a mailing
list.
Guidelines for the contents of the list will have to be
prepared. This discussion is ongoing.
It was also suggested that the Advocacy Committee in its
activities, try to make members and interested parties aware of the
existence of the Braille Music List.
13 INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ENGLISH BRAILLE (ICEB)
13.1 Resignation of ICEB President
The President reported that the President of ICEB, Mr P Osborne,
had to resign as President of ICEB because of a retrenchment. This
in effect meant that the Vice-President, Mr de Klerk, had to stand
in and chair the upcoming mid-term ICEB Executive meeting to be
held in New Zealand.
13.2 ICEB Executive Committee meetings
Since the previous SABA General Assembly meeting in October
2013, two ICEB Executive telephone conferences were held.
13.3 Code Maintenance Committee
(See Ms Bothas report as Annexure Two)
(Also see Phyllis Landons tribute to Ms Antonnette Botha below
as Annexure Three)
13.4 Refreshable Braille Committee (now the Braille Technology
Committee)
It was reported that the original charge was to collaborate with
the Transforming Braille Project which is a joint project between
the RNIB and the DAISY Consortium to develop a low cost braille
display and to cooperate with them. It was recommended that ICEB
make a donation of $5,000 to the project to assist with the
development.
The ICEB Secretary serves on the Transforming Braille Project as
well as being an observer on the Refreshable Braille Committee. It
was decided that this person will serve as a link between the
Refreshable Braille Committee and the Transforming Braille
Project.
Due to confidentiality issues, feedback to the committee was
difficult with this arrangement and cooperation could not be on the
level anticipated. As far as can be ascertained, a prototype of the
new refreshable device will be available close to the end of 2015
or soon thereafter. No further information was available.
The Braille Blaster which is a free braille translation tool, is
still under development and seems to be a very sophisticated tool
when finished.
Lately the development of the iOS7, the latest operating system
for iPhone and its braille support driver to be used with braille
displays has serious braille issues. Correspondence was prepared to
be submitted to the Apple Company explaining what the problem was
and suggesting fixes for it.
It was also reported that Braille Back and access to braille
displays, exist for Android devices. It has been tested and found
to be very slow with further development required. Communications
will be forwarded to the Android developers via a generally
circulated mailing list.
It was also reported that many braille support related issues of
the past were corrected with the latest JAWS version 15 just
released. Also that the latest upgrade of the Victor Reader Stream
now accommodates braille support.
13.5 Braille Music Committee
It was reported that the signs for flat sharp and natural as in
music, have now been assigned for context outside of music.
There are also discussions on possibly revising the braille
music manual which has last been revised in 1996. It was however
suggested that this task may be beyond the scope of ICEB and that
it should be done by BANA and UKAAF with possible inputs from the
ICEB Braille Music Committee.
13.6 Public Relations Committee
It was reported that, to date, there has been no activity
initiated by this committee. At the next mid-term meeting of the
Executive of ICEB, the activities of all subcommittees will be
discussed to see whether the structure should be changed or
not.
13.7 Training and Implementation Materials Committee
Since the previous General Assembly meeting held in October
2013, the updated versions of the documents on the Unified English
Braille (UEB), has been received from the Australian publishers.
Since 2006, Australia has worked vigorously to ensure that learning
materials are kept up to date with the latest developments of the
UEB itself. This followed on the original Primer published by the
Australians and now updated after the release of the UEB Rulebook
in 2013.
This updated manual now replaces all earlier publications
including the primer circulated to schools. Persons interested in
this latest manual are welcome to contact the committee or Ms Bam
to obtain further information.
It was also suggested that the manuals prepared could also be
used to compile the training courses for the new Optima FET college
and the training of braille workers in the braille industry.
The representative on this committee was requested to enquire
with other member countries on their own development of training
material to possibly be used in South Africa.
13.8 Signage Committee
It was reported that very little activity has taken place
internationally on this committee.
Locally some work was done with the SA Bureau for Standards
(SABS), but even this is very slow because of the structures of the
institutions concerned.
The Committee reported that some basic medication is now coming
out with some braille printed on the packaging. This is a small
beginning but still positive.
It was however reported that a company did present samples of
brailled packaging to the SANCB for their approval and further
advice.
13.9 Certification Committee
Again it was reported that nothing has happened during the last
two years. The South African representatives were not even sure
that they were part of the mailing list as enquiries to the list
bounced back to them. The President said that even this will come
under discussion at the mid-term meeting of the Executive of
ICEB.
13.10 Upcoming Midterm ICEB Executive Committee Meeting
The Chairperson explained that, as explained above, he had to
stand in as President of ICEB for the remainder of the term of
office. This meant that he could not represent South Africa as
member anymore and a new representative for South Africa had to be
found.
A new member at large was therefore co-opted by means of
nominations and voting on the SABA General mailing list. In this
process Mr Netshituni was elected and would ideally also attend the
midterm meeting as the representative from South Africa and member
at large of the Executive.
Funding was applied for with the Department of Arts and Culture
and to re-allocate the funding from him to Mr Netshituni as the
cost of the President of ICEB was paid for by the Executive
Committee.
When it was found that Mr Netshituni had two ID documents, a
passport could not be issued for him in time to travel to New
Zealand.
13.10.1Date and Venue
The Chairperson informed the meeting that the ICEB, the
international standards setting body for English Braille, meets
every four years at a physical meeting where all member countries
send representations too. The last one was held during May 2012 in
South Africa. In the middle of this term of four years, a physical
midterm meeting is held. Further meetings are held every three
months by telephone conference. The next midterm Executive
Committee of ICEB will be held in Auckland, New Zealand from 22 to
24 May 2014.
13.10.2 The future of ICEB
The chairperson explained that a closed session is to be held to
discuss the future of ICEB as the main activity to date was the
development of the UEB. Apart from the maintenance of the code,
this has now been finalised.
Some individuals view the work of ICEB now done and that only
the Code Maintenance Committee should continue but equally there
are others who feel that the structure should continue as at
present.
13.10.3 Matters to be referred to the meeting
From the floor it was suggested that some of the ICEB committees
can combine their activities; that the conveners who do not deliver
outcomes be replaced; that the public relations of ICEB be done on
a more professional basis internally involving large public
relations companies to assist with the braille sector thereby
providing the necessary information; that ICEB continue to operate
but within the proposed changed structure above.
14 UNIFIED BRAILLE CODE
14.1Training presented since the last meeting
Blind SA reported that Ms Smith has done training in the North
West provinces as well as for a large group of teachers. She is
constantly busy with training of individuals and at some
schools.
It was also reported that, with a recent visit to the Limpopo
province, it was found that many individuals have never heard of
UBC and still writes braille as they were taught when at school.
This is apparently the same situation in the Kroonstad area.
RESOLVED:
14.1.1 That the matter of the shortage of training in various
rural areas be referred to the Executive Committee to see if
trainers cannot be found to service the identified areas where
training of UBC is required.
It was further noted that, although the University of Venda
enquired regarding braille training they wanted to introduce, the
University went ahead and arranged training in braille of which the
quality is unsure.
RESOLVED:
14.1.2 That the training done at the University of Venda be
referred to the Executive Committee of SABA for further
investigation and or action.
Members enquired on the availability of training material in
general and they were informed of the various sets of material
already discussed and others available from the Training and
Implementation Materials Committee of ICEB. Enough reading material
was now available published in UBC including several magazines
being published on a monthly basis.
The statement was made from the floor that information was not
available wherein it can be established that all schools teach the
correct standard and grade of braille. Some reporting is received
by the Executive of SABA after visits performed by the Braille
Consultant but more detailed investigations can be done to
establish exactly what is happening at all schools.
It was therefore suggested that a register be initiated to
establish the level of braille training at all south African
Schools so that this information can be used as a negotiation tool
with the education department and other structures in the
sector.
RESOLVED:
14.1.3 That the Executive Committee of SABA initiate and drive
an investigation into the training of braille at all schools in
South Africa and that this information then be used to plan further
action by SABA.
The Braille Consultant did raise the point that, in the answer
papers returned to the SALB after the braille examinations, it was
found that many schools do use UBC but that the quality is at times
very poor. The meeting agreed that general accreditation of
training and trainers will go far to address the current
problem.
14.2 Reading Material for Beginners
A large volume of material has been transcribed into UBC and all
current material is being printed in this way since the official
acceptance of the UBC standard.
14.3 Usage of the Unified Code
It was reported that two of the printing works for braille have
had requests for examination papers to be printed in pre-unified
braille, especially for some subjects. It was however explained
that these requests were mainly for adults who do not know UBC but
still had to do examinations.
The meeting agreed that even this will have to have a cut-off
date and it was,
RESOLVED:
14.3.1 That all examination papers and other material including
technical material, be produced in UBC as from January 2015,
and
14.3.1.1That SABA will issue a notice regarding the former to be
circulated to all persons and institutions on its database.
15. LOCAL MANUALS
15.1Hands On
Members expressed their appreciation for this very valuable
manual being used widely nowadays
15.2 Ses Punte 21
Ms Botha reported that Miss Aucamp is very frail, that she has
been bed-ridden for the past six months, and that meaningful
communication is hardly possible. SABA officially requested Miss
Botha to take over the work on Ses punte 21. Since we have no other
manual for older beginners to learn Afrikaans braille, and because
she had promised Miss Aucamp that she would see to it that Ses
punte 21 be completed and published if Miss Aucamp should no longer
be able to do it herself, she accepted the responsibility. She said
that currently her priority is to help complete the work on the
Afrikaans supplement to the rules of UBC, and that ses punte 21
will be her next priority. She has already done some preliminary
work with the help of Mrs Lettie van Niekerk by sorting
half-finished work. She reminded the meeting that the first four
volumes, albeit in a provisional edition, are already available
from Pioneer Printers, which can be used to learn grade 1 braille
and the major part of the Afrikaans contractions.
15.3 Supplements for SA languages
It was agreed by the meeting that this heading should rather be
Other manuals for SA Languages
It was reported that work was done on other manuals which are at
different stages of completion.
The Zulu manual was written and presented to teachers and others
for proofreading. Several errors were found and are in the process
of being corrected.
A guide for the use of Zulu Braille is being updated from pre
unified code to UBC. Several other similar reference guides are in
the process of being written but have not been completed yet.
15.4 Manual for beginners by Ms Smith
The meeting noted that various previous reports have been tabled
on this publication but reporting on the same stage as at present
with no real progress. The Chairperson explained that some of the
delay was due to Ms Botha having agreed to assist with the
proofreading and other tasks but that her very full schedule has
not given her enough time to do this work.
Most of the further discussions from the floor about the book
was recorded at such a low level that it was impossible to piece
together enough thereof to make sense to the reader.
16 AN INVESTIGATION INTO BRAILLE RELATED MATTERS
At the previous General Assembly meeting of SABA in Pretoria, Mr
Kekana of the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) explained that
the investigation funded by the DAC is still in the process to be
assessed by all the Government Departments concerned. No further
progress can be reported and no outcomes have been implemented to
date.
17 BRAILLE CODES IN SOUTH AFRICA
17.1 Uncontracted Braille
No discussions.
17.2 Grade 2 Braille (All Languages)
On a question on the use of the circumflex sign in Sesotho
coming from different areas, the President said that it was up to
the users of the language to say which they prefer and then the
tables will be adjusted accordingly.
17.2.1 Afrikaans Braille rules
(See report from Ms Popplestone below as Annexure Four)
18. BRAILLE CUP COMPETITION
(See item 8. Advocacy for the discussions on this item.)
19. BRAILLE EXAMINATIONS
It was reported that, compared to the previous years examination
process, the examinations went very well with no major problems.
Prizes for the best results were provided by the SALB and handed to
all recipients.
The quality of braille written ranged from very good to very
poor. The majority of schools entered UBC braille but three schools
still used the pre-unified system.
The process for the higher braille competition is on track and
will be written soon.
The meeting thanked the SALB for taking over this very important
task in the interest of the promotion of braille.
20. BRAILLE CONSULTANCY
The consultancy visited two schools in the last quarter where
educators were very passionate about their work. Skills of teaching
braille are limited and educators are concerned that they do not
train braille in the correct manner. This does not only concern the
code but also matters like hand positioning, hand movement and
tracking, and tactile discrimination.
The two schools use UBC but some revision was necessary. At one
school learners were even encouraged to use the small school
library. This was very encouraging.
It was recommended that some formal training of educators should
be considered.
Advice and support was given on a daily basis concerning all
matters on braille.
It was also reported that the SALB constantly adds to its
collection of tactile titles with a further 18 titles added
recently.
21. LOUIS BRAILLE BULLETIN
The latest bulletin was already in its draft form and will
contain standard features and other interesting items. Further
information will be given on the availability of the latest
translation tables and the results of the various braille
examinations.
22. DUXBURY BRAILLE TRANSLATOR
22.1Table Development/Maintenance
Work was done on the print to braille and braille to print
Afrikaans tables implementing the latest rules. A test table was
made available for users to test but no comments or suggestions
were received to date. The latest Duxbury update will be available
soon.
The unified tables for Swati and Ndebele were made. Some errors
were identified and need to be rectified.
The Tsonga table has been developed, but still needs testing
before it can be distributed.
The tables for Swati and Ndebele are also now included in DBT
11.2 sr1.
There is a problem with the Venda table, but this has been
addressed.
The tables for Xhosa and Zulu were also worked on and the
contraction for ND should now contract correctly in a word like
Ndlovu.
23. MASS LITERACY CAMPAIGN
The Kha Ri Gude Programme was ongoing but with no further
discussions
RESOLVED:
23.1 That this will be a recurring item.
24. SAQA
This item was discussed under item 10, Accredited Braille
Course.
25. SPECIAL COMMITTEES
25.1 Braille Maths
The maths mailing list has been active for some time but with no
activity at all. Prinshof School reported that they are the only
school teaching maths in grade 10 to 12. The school was commended
for this.
25.2 Tactile Graphics
It was reported that not much is happening on the list. The SALB
is very busy producing tactile material as reported before.
The SALB plans to use the former rules list and all its listed
members for the braille tactile mailing list. This was still in the
planning stage.
26. DRAFT BRAILLE POLICY STATEMENT
A meeting was held on 26 March 2014 with the Deputy Minister of
the Department for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities
(DWCPD) on the draft braille policy and how the Department sees the
Braille Authority in the future.
A Braille Policy document was prepared some time ago with the
input of several persons. This document was well written and
researched and covered all aspects of braille and the authority
that should govern it, but was not yet adopted by the authorities
concerned as a braille policy document.
The Deputy Minister undertook to, if she was still similarly
involved after the national elections, engage with all concerned to
see to it that the Braille Policy document be adopted and
implemented as such especially concerning the structure of the
Braille Authority.
At the same meeting, the matter of the structure and position of
the Braille Authority was also discussed at length. This was
especially important as there were rumours that the Government
Structures will not accept the Braille Authority in its present
form but wanted to incorporate it into the existing Government
structures.
The Deputy Minister stated that she does not have any problem
with the structure of the current Braille Authority except for the
fact that it should be funded and well recognised.
Although the proposal was that the Government system should be
involved in the structure of the Braille Authority, the
representatives of SABA emphasised the point that the braille
sector should have the majority vote in its structure. The Deputy
Minister did not have any problem with this proposal.
If this proposed structure is acceptable to the community, it
will mean that a statutory body will be established and that it
will have statutory recognition and support for braille. If done in
this way, the body will have the authority to carry out its
intended mandate.
From the floor it was said that, although not formally
expressed, the DWCPD will be moving in under the cover of the
Department of social Development (DSD) which will mean that
braille, if a statutory body, will be seen by the general public as
welfare and not an entity of its own stature. This welfare image
can be upheld by officials and, in the view of the meeting, will
not benefit the development of braille as such.
The meeting was of the view that, if a statutory body was
established, it will fit in better with DAC where the statutes of
the SALB are seated at present.
At the last meeting with the Deputy Minister of the DWCPD, the
representative of the DBE actively stated that, in her view, the
Braille Authority should fall under the DBE. This was opposed by
the SABA Representatives saying that the DAC had a longstanding
relationship with braille and, according to its view, this is the
department that should take care of the authority.
On a question from the floor, the Chairperson said that all the
braille authorities round the world operate in a different way
although most of the authorities operated independently.
The ideal in South Africa is for the Braille Authority to have
statutory recognition and that such a body be controlled by the
braille sector itself. With the former situation it would be ideal
for the authority to be related to the DAC because of its
long-standing relationship with braille.
The meeting also agreed that more intense engagements with
various Government Departments should be a priority as to get as
many of them on board and understand the braille sector. This can
then possibly assist when a final decision is to be made on the
set-up of a statutory braille body.
27. NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES
The Chairperson said that he has had several communications with
persons in Zimbabwe related to the setting up of a local Braille
Authority. He did receive several reports on the process but the
last one arrived some time ago.
The Representative from the Visually Impaired Support (VIPS) of
Zimbabwe said that he has not had any access to the last reports of
the efforts to set up a braille authority in Zimbabwe. Braille is
widely used in the country but access to the UBC is limited
according to his knowledge.
He also said that braille and the structures around it is not as
well organised as in South Africa therefore the delay in getting
official structures off the ground. Part of this problem is that
top officials of the Government, have no idea what braille is or of
the importance of it to blind persons therefore the lack of
interest to promote it.
The representative said that he was so impressed with what he
experienced with this General Assembly meeting that he intends
taking this information forward to Zimbabwe to try and invest this
into the recognition of braille and the structures involved with
it.
28. ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Through a process of requesting nominations for members of the
Executive committee via the SABA General Mailing List and then via
a democratic secret voting process, the following persons were
elected to serve on the Executive Committee of SABA:
President - Mr Ntshavheni Simon Netshituni;
Deputy-President - Mr Christo de Klerk;
Treasurer - Mr Derick Greeff;
Additional Executive Member - Ms Lebogang Manyane;
Additional Executive member Mr Deenadayalan Moodley;
Additional Executive member Mr David Nkwenkwezi; and
Additional Executive Member Mr Willie Malatsi.
29ANY OTHER RELEVANT MATTERS
29.1Delegations leaving the general assembly early
It was stated from the floor that, regardless of the fact that
the times within which the General Assembly meeting will be
conducted is clearly stated in the agenda, a large group of the
delegates intend leaving the meeting two hours before it officially
closes. This has special reference as in the year, elections will
be conducted in the May meeting and not having delegations
represented has a huge influence on this activity.
It was established that 5 delegations will leave earlier than
the circulated closing time for the meeting. Persons stated that
due to expensive accommodation etc. and availability of flights,
they just had to shorten their time at the meeting.
29.2Recommendations from the Blind SA Education Committee
The Blind SA Education Committee discussed several matters
concerning SABA and its meetings and table these for
discussion.
Firstly, that it be considered to hold one General Assembly
meeting per year as the accommodation and travelling cost is now
very high especially for schools and smaller institutions.
From the floor, it was said that, with one meeting, matters
could drag on unnecessarily and possibly come to a total halt with
only one meeting. It was however added that, if deadlines of tasks
are insisted upon, this scenario should have a lesser effect on the
finishing of tasks given at General Assembly meetings. It was also
stated that the nature of the meetings has changed over time when
previously more time was spent on technical matters than nowadays.
The Chairperson added that the larger group such as the present
General Assembly meetings ensures more exposure to persons not
normally exposed to braille related discussions at all. This may
just encourage those persons to do more at their own place of
work.
A question was raised as to the budgets schools have for
attending conferences and meetings. SABA representatives at open
meetings of the DBE has been told that schools do receive budgets
for attending meetings but this fact is denied by delegations from
schools at the General Assembly meeting.
At this point, Mr Makhathala representing the DBE arrived. After
welcoming him at the meeting, the Chairperson put the matter to
him. He responded in saying that provinces do get budgets for all
the special schools in the province. From these budgets, the
schools have to divide the funding received for the acquisition of
books and other needs as well as for attending meetings and
conferences. Permission must be granted by the district official
for that school to use this fund for such activities. This request
may be declined by the district official if the official does not
have enough insight or knowledge of the importance of attending
such a meeting.
The meeting was informed that schools can use the prospectus of
SABA to motivate the provision of funds for meetings.
RESOLVED:
29.2.1That, with 11 votes for and 7 votes against the motion, it
was resolved to hold one General Assembly meeting per year from
2015.
29.2.2That the membership fees agreed upon earlier be changed to
be R370.00 for schools and R620.00 for other institutions for
2015-2016.
30.DATE AND VENUE OF THE NEXT MEETING OF THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
RESOLVED:
That the next General Assembly meeting of SABA be held on 2
& 3 October at the Pioneer Printers in Worcester in the Western
Cape Province.
31.VOTE OF THANKS
The President of SABA especially thanked the SALB for hosting
the SABA General Assembly meeting as part of its 95th year
celebration. He thanked the organising committee for all the hard
work with the larger group as before. He asked that the
appreciation goes to all concerned for the hospitality and for the
meals and refreshments.
He also thanked the delegations for attending the meeting, for
their participation and commitment for braille.
The President also said that it has been a great privilege for
him to have been the President of SABA and the Chairperson of the
former Braille SA. It was with great confidence and support that he
now hands over the reigns to Ntshavheni Netshituni. He will serve
braille and SABA as Deputy-President and in any capacity thereafter
as long as he can.
32.CLOSURE
The out-going President adjourned the meeting.
CHRISTO DE KLERK (President South African Braille Authority
Compiled by Derick Greeff
ANNEXURE ONE
ATTENDANCE LIST MAY 2014
ALDEN
PASHA
SALB
BAM
SUSAN
BLIND SA
BOTHA
ANTONNETTE
CHUENE
GEOGINA
UL
DE KLERK
CHRISTO
EXEC
DONALDSON
CATHY
BLIND SA
DUBE
JOHANNES
BLIND SA
ISMAIL
SURAYA
SANCB
JORDAAN
PHILIP
BLIND SA
JORDAAN
SANETTE
BLIND SA
LESUFI
MANAPYANE
SIBONILE
MAKHAFOLA
SOLOMON
SIBONILE
MARAZI
TAFARA
VIPS ZIMBABWE
MARSHALL
HAZEL
SANCB
MASHABELA
MASEKOPO
ST FRANCIS
MATHYSER
NEELS
PRINSHOF
MATSHWANE
MODIRI
BARTIMEA
MOLEPO
RM
SILOE SCHOOL
MOODLEY
DEENADAYALAN
UNISA
MOTSETE
MARGARET
UNISA
NEMAKHAVHANE
FHULKFHEDZANI
SETOTOLWANE
NETSHITUNI
SIMON
UNISA
NKWENKWEZI
DAVID
UFS
POPPLESTONE
REINETTE
UCT
RAMOROKA
TL
SILOE SCHOOL
RAKATE
DINEO
BARTIMEA
ROOS
NICKY
SANCB
SISING
ELISA
UFS
SWART
MARIUS
PIONEER PRINTERS
VAN WYK
SUSAN
BLIND SA
VON MOLLENDORF
ARNE
INST FOR THE BLIND
NEMAKHAVHANE
FLORENCE
SETOTOLWANE
YONA
NOLUVUYO
SALB
MANYANE LEBO ECO-ACCESS
ANNEXURE TWO
CODE MAINTENANCE COMMITTEEReport to SABA May 2014
In November 2013 the second edition (2013) of The Rules of
Unified English Braille was released. It is available for download
from the ICEB website as a pdf, a linked pdf, and 6 brf files. For
the linked pdf file George Bell (UK) inserted hyperlinks into the
pdf file for approximately 2500 references.
SABA's most sincere thanks should go to Blind SA and their
Braille Services for donating a print and a braille version of the
Rulebook (its shorter nickname) to each school for the blind.
In August 2012 the Code Maintenance Committee (CMC) formulated a
list of 32 charges. 14 of these have been completed. Among the
remaining 18 charges there are symbols requested by SABA,
namely:
the German "sharp s" (lowercase U+00df and uppercase U+1e9e),
usually rendered in English as ss or sz;
tripple vertical bar (U+2af4) meaning similar to, as in same
shape different size;
check mark: determine whether dots 5146 (radical without
vinculum U+221a) is the best sign to use. There is also a check
mark (U+2713) which is more or less similar in shape;
letter modifiers (diacritics) found in South African
languages:
* Venda: dot above following letter (U+0307) also found in
Gaelic;
* Venda: circumflex below following letter (U+032d);
* Sepedi (Northern Sotho): caron above following letter
(U+030c). [Due to a misunderstanding this symbol was incorrectly
listed in CMC Charge 17 as "dot below".]
The letter modifiers are not intended for use in the home codes
where special provision was made for diacritics, but for text in a
foreign language such as English.
A major task ahead is extensive work on the braille symbols and
rules of the Guidelines for Technical Material (GTM), which is to
be incorporated into the next edition of the Rulebook, either
replacing 11 or as an appendix.
Charge 29 requires our attention. It reads: "Add a rule to
Section 10.4 that the contractions for "ar" and "gh" ... are not
used when preceded and followed by a space, to avoid confusion with
diagonal line segments (Section 16.3)". If this should be approved,
we would not be able to use "aan" and "ui" as wordsigns in
Afrikaans.
Other items on the agenda include:
Contraction usage in problem words;
The impact of a medial capital letter on the use of
contractions;
An alphabetic version of the shortforms list;
An index.
The CMC Chair, Phyllis Landon, receives many queries personally
and via the e-mail address on the ICEB website, and she keeps track
of what needs to be referred for action. There is interest in an
e-mail list and/or a listing of Q&As or FAQ's so that
information can be disseminated quickly and regularly.
I will be retiring as member of the CMC at the time of the ICEB
Executive Committee meeting in New Zealand next week.
Antonnette Botha
ANNEXURE THREE
0. TRIBUTE TO ANTONNETTE BOTHA
I wish to pay tribute to Antonnette Botha who is resigning as a
member of the Code Maintenance Committee. I would like to thank her
for her dedication and the contribution she made to writing the
rules for UEB. Her wording and examples are still evident
throughout the rulebook.
Antonnette Botha was the first chair of the Rules Committee
(Committee VI of the UEB Project) which was established in 1993.
She had a clear plan for the Rulebook right from the start. She
assigned tasks, drafted rules, led discussions, chaired face to
face meetings and generally ensured that the work continued step by
step over the many years required.
Under her leadership, consultation was the key. She was, and is,
respected for her depth of knowledge and her ability to manage all
the minute details while keeping the core principles at the
forefront.
Antonnette stepped down as chair in 2006, remaining as a member
representing South Africa on Committee VI. When the Code
Maintenance Committee was formed in 2010, she was one of four
people appointed for their expertise. We could always count on
Antonnette to thoroughly review any proposed changes to wording or
examples and, often, to point out missed errors and unforeseen
implications. Thankfully, even in "retirement", she will continue
to participate as an observer.
We are grateful that we will still benefit from her experience,
wisdom, perspective and especially, her passion for UEB.
Respectfully submitted,
Phyllis Landon
Chair, Code Maintenance Committee
ANNEXURE FOUR
Report to SABA on Afrikaans braille rules 16 May 2014Purpose of
the presentation
The purpose of the presentation was to put before the Assembly
the work that had been done on updating Afrikaans contraction
rules, with the hope to have them adopted in principle. It is hoped
that this will enable those tasked with updating the Translation
tables for Afrikaans to begin to implement the decisions contained
in the document that served as the basis for the presentation.
The document consists of ten sections which were reported on
under the relevant headings.
4.1 Die "alleenstaande" rel
This rule is central to the principles underlying UBC and spells
out the conditions under which wordsigns and shortforms can be
contracted.
4.2 Eenselwoordtekens
This rule governs the use of wordsigns including 25 alphabet
contractions and 8 wordsigns: eindelik, iets, een, erken, wat, stil
and two lower word contractions, se and hier.
The rule differs from the one in the UEB Rulebook in two
ways:
1. we do not allow the wordsign to be contracted in apostrophed
expressions such as "wat's die" and "jy's gek."
1. We also do not distinguish between alphabetic contractions
and non-alprhabetic wordsigns. For the rest, we apply the standing
alone rules outlined in section 1.
4.3 Eenselverkortings
This rule does not differ from the one we have used up till now,
except that the use of contractions has been liberalised. This is
demonstrated through the provision in the rule of ample examples.
One change which needs to be made regarding the version of the
document that was distributed at the meeting is that the
contraction for ui can in fact be used as aword. In other respects
the rule corresponds to that in the UEB Rulebook.
4.4 Laerverkortings
This rule is somewhat more detailed than in the existing
formulation, mainly to ensure that it deals with all the instances
treated in the UEB Rulebook.
4.5 Tweeselverkortings
This rule is essentially unchanged, except once again use of the
contractions have been liberalised. This is amply demonstrated by
examples. We would now contract dit in oudit, vir in virus, reg in
regulasie, etc.
4.6. Kortvorms
We have chosen to retain the rules according to which we have
used shortforms in the past. It deviates from the UEB rule in one
important respect. We make no exceptions about using shortforms as
parts of larger words. Instead we apply the standing alone rule as
envisaged in the UEB Rulebook. It has the advantage of infinitely
simplifying this rule, in comparison with the one which applies in
English
4.7 Uitspraak
As with 4.3 and 4.5 above, we have liberalized the use of
groupsigns. Although stress and vowel length still govern the use
of some of these, we have moved away from an existing tradition
according to which we had contracting guidelines which were based
on largely unwritten rules around pronunciation, this rule has been
considerably simplified. Whereas in the past we would have
contracted the words geniet and generaal differently, we will in
future contract ge in both cases. We will no longer depend on
knowing the etomology of the word as, to some extent, we did in the
past.
4.8 Voorkeur
This rule demonstrates the circumstances under which to opt for
one alternative contraction rather than another.
4.9 Oorbrugging
This rule has remained largely unchanged from what we are used
to, except that we have, in accordance with UEB, done away with the
prohibition to contract across prefixes and stems, and we have also
done away with our older rule which prohibited the contraction
across the suffixes -kunde and -kunige.
4.10 Woordverdeling
This rule contains nothing new. It is instead a summary of the
rules which pertain primarily to how contractions are used round
hyphenation, whether in the spelling of a word or as a word might
have to be divided across braille lines.
Resolution
I unfortunately had to leave just before this discussion was
concluded, but my understanding is that the Assembly unanimously
agreed to accept the proposed rules, subject to the small
adjustments referred to in the paragraph below.
What remains
The rules will be fine edited and proof read and prepared for
publication both in braille and in print. Members were asked to
continue to give us feedback on anything in the distributed
document which they feel might need our attention.
In the meantime the Rules Committee tasked with the work on
Afrikaans braille need to decide on how the option of code
switching for which UEB allows will be implemented. We will also
circulate a draft of the use of diacritics in Afrikaans, as some of
these will have grade 2 meanings.
Respectfully submitted
Reinette Popplestone