Chess, a proposal for inclusion in the classroom

The Directorate of Special Projects and Interinstitutional Relations, led by Dr. Ruth Patricia Rico Rico, has signed the framework agreement that will allow work on programs, plans and projects, aimed at promoting agreements with Municipal Administrations in order to improve the quality of inclusive education in our country, through the practice of chess, a learning resource, in which skills, abilities and knowledge are generated that can be transferred to other areas or environments to be applied.

“Chess in the classroom will allow teachers and students to develop analytical and creative thinking, relevant to the education of people in any area of knowledge,” explained Dr. Ruth Patricia Rico, Director of Special Projects and Interinstitutional Relations at UCundinamaca.

Jhony Cruz is the creator of this project. “When I designed this chess set, I envisioned it being only for people with visual impairments. However, I later realized there was a great opportunity to teach everyone, from sighted, deaf, and mute people to young people and children, because the idea is for everyone to play and for no one to be excluded,” Cruz explained.

Inclusive chess consists of a board with Braille and a practical mechanism that allows blind people to play a game without the fear of knocking over the pieces by touch. It is a board built to the specifications of the International Chess Federation, with 64 equal squares in eight rows and eight columns, in the colors required for its world championships: green and white.

Thus, the initiative becomes a tool not only for education but also an inclusive alternative for the development of people with disabilities, improving their memory capacity and their cognitive and brain processes, thus achieving education for life as proposed by the UDEC educational model, MEDIT.

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