Although the government has distributed 9,504 textbooks written in braille this year, the number is low compared to the demand. Apart from textbooks, not many braille books written on subjects such as fiction are available in the local market.

Many private organisations and government agencies are currently working to publish books for the visually impaired.

Braille is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols.

Braille (named after its inventor in 19th century France, Louis Braille) is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font.

It is essential in the context of education, freedom of expression and opinion, as well as social inclusion, as reflected in article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UN says.

Dhaka University (DU) has a Resource Centre for Visually Impaired Students on the ground floor of the administrative building of the Central Library.

The study centre was established in 2007 through the joint initiative of the university and Sight Savers International, an NGO working for visually impaired students worldwide.

Almost all study materials at the resource centre are in braille. The centre has a collection of 23 books in braille of different departments, two braille typewriters, 27 lines braille guide (a writing frame through which students can write in Braille), braille stylus (a special pen to write in Braille) and an impressive collection of cassettes and CDs.

The centre is staffed by four visually impaired workers.

World Braille Day is observed on January 4 to raise awareness of the importance of Braille as a means of communication in the full realisation of the human rights for blind and partially sighted people, the United Nations says.

In Bangladesh, there are little to no activities of the government or private organisations to observe the day.