Korea certifies its 1st official braille teachers century after invention
A certified instructor reads a book in Korean braille at the Gyeonggi-do Braille Library in Suwon, south of Seoul, on Tuesday, as the nation marks a major milestone in educational accessibility for the visually impaired. Yonhap
Exactly a century after the creation of Korean braille, Korea has certified its first cohort of 20 officially licensed braille instructors — a major step toward expanding educational accessibility for the visually impaired.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Wednesday that the milestone fulfills a core mandate of the nation’s landmark Braille Act, passed a decade ago to formalize and elevate braille literacy across the country.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the National Institute of Korean Language said the 20 teachers received second-grade braille teacher licenses. The license is a national qualification created when the Braille Act was revised, and the change took effect last year. The announcement fell on Hangeul Braille Day, which was marked Wednesday.
The day marks the release of Korean braille on Nov. 4, 1926. Bak Du-seong, who taught blind students in Seoul, developed the six-dot system while Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. He called it Hunmaengjeongeum, a name that echoes Hunminjeongeum. That 15th-century document proclaimed Hangeul, the Korean alphabet.
Applicants for the second-grade license must have at least 300 hours of experience teaching braille. They also need a third-grade or higher license as a braille transcriber and proofreader, and a passing score on a braille proficiency test. On top of that, they must complete an approved teacher training course. This year’s recipients took the first such course, which ran for at least 120 hours.
Second-grade license holders can move up to a first-grade license after another 300 hours of teaching. No more than 120 hours a year count toward that total.
Kim Yun-mi, secretary general of the Songam Braille Library, received license No. 1.
“I am very happy to become one of the first braille teachers in the meaningful year marking 100 years of Korean braille,” Kim said. “I will keep studying teaching materials and methods so that more visually impaired people can feel the joy of learning through braille without giving up.”
The ministry and the institute said they will keep training and supporting braille teachers. Their goal is for every visually impaired person who needs braille education to get it.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.