Learning from Each Other - Comparing the Service Provision for Blind and Visually-Impaired Students in Post-secondary Education in Japan and Europe

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Levi

Visually impaired students in post-secondary education are increasing, and higher-education access is evolving differently across countries. This research compares educational systems and service provision models for blind and visually handicapped students in Japan and European countries, with Austria as a main focus. The study aims to extract actionable proposals to improve higher education for this group, grounded in differences in inclusion policy, institutional availability, support-center capacity, and the role of information technology and assistive tools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Educational and Service Provision System

Research and Development

Learning from Each Other: Comparing the Service Provision for Blind and Visually-Impaired Students in Post-secondary Education in Japan and Europe Hiroshi Katoh1 , Martin Pauly1 , Shunsuke Hara 1 , Hideji Nagaoka 1 , and Klaus Miesenberger2 1 Tsukuba College of Technology, 4-12-7 Kasuga, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-0821, Japan {katoh, pauly, hara, [nagaoka](nagaoka}@k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp)[}](nagaoka}@k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp)[@k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp](nagaoka}@k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp) 2 i3 s3 , University of Linz, Altenberger Strasse 69, A-4040, Linz, Austria [klaus.miesenberger@jku.at](klaus.miesenberger@jku.at) Abstract. The number of visually handicapped students who study at universities and other organizations for post secondary education is increasing gradually. The situation of higher education for the visually impaired is rapidly changing and diﬀerent countries answer this situation in diﬀerent ways. In this research, we started to compare the educational systems and the service provision systems for blind and visually handicapped students in post-secondary education in Japan and European countries, mainly Austria. The goal of these studies is to outline proposals for the improvement of the higher education for the target group. 1Educational and Service Provision System Due to social, political and economical reasons and also because of the Information Technology (IT) revolution, the situation of higher education for the visually impaired students is continually changing and varies among diﬀerent countries. These rapid changes invite to compare the situation in diﬀerent countries and to learn from each other. In Japan, each year more than three hundred high school graduates with visual impairment leave secondary school level. Less than ten percent of them go to universities and colleges, including Tsukuba College of Technology (TCT), a special institution oﬀering post-secondary education for sensory impaired students. These ﬁgures are considerably low, when compared to ﬁfty percent of unimpaired high school graduates who go to universities or colleges and seventy percent of eighteen-year olds who enter into some kind of post-secondary educational institution in Japan. In European countries (e.g. Austria), the percentage of young people entering post secondary education is lower than in Japan. On the other hand the percentage of visually handicapped youngsters in post-secondary education is more similar as the one of the overall age group. [5] In most of the European countries a very restricted number of or no special institutions are K. Miesenberger, J. Klaus, W. Zagler (Eds.): ICCHP 2002, LNCS2398, pp. 753–755, 2002 . 􀀁c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002 754 H. Katoh et al. available. The orientation towards inclusive education tends to increase the ratio of blind and visually handicapped students attending post secondary education. There is of course a need to take the social and cultural background into account when comparing the systems. In Europe also education at elementary and secondary level most of the time, except for those with multiple impairments, is based on inclusion. In Japan however, many visually handicapped children attend special schools focusing mainly on vocational training. IT usage is an other important factor. In the present situation in Japan, less than thirty percent of the visually impaired are using the Internet[1] . In Europe almost any student in early ages learns to use the computer and modern communication technology asan assistive and general tool. Service provision systems in Europe are based on a high level of skills using IT and assistive technology. [3][4] Tsukuba College of Technology (TCT) started to accept students from 1991 . It is a three-year national college and is unique as it is only for those with visual or hearing disabilities. It is expected that TCT will be promoted to a full four-year university in the near future. It receives about forty blind

FAQs

What is the purpose of the research outputs for the target group?

The study’s goal is to outline proposals for improving higher education for blind and visually handicapped students based on cross-country comparison of systems and services.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Levi