In a rare feat, three visually impaired Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students of Alva’s College, Moodbidri, who passed out during 2018-19, have bagged the first three ranks in the final examination conducted by Mangalore University during April-May, 2019.

Of them, first rank holder, Nithyananda from Attur in Karkala, was the cynosure of all eyes when he received the degree certificate from Vice-Chancellor P.S. Yadapadithya at the 38th convocation of the university here on Thursday.

The audience applauded his achievement with a big thumbs-up.
 

Last week, two headlines on the digital platforms of leading dailies caught my attention. One read, “Two blind HSC students find writers at the 11^th hour”. And the second stated, “HSC exams: Finding writers a real test for some”.

Both these news stories highlight one of the most commonly faced problems by any blind student in India. Given their vision impairment, these students are dependent on ‘scribes’ to write their exams.

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 21

Visually impaired students of the HPU are in fix as the institute is flouting the Centre’s guideline regarding writers for such students during examinations.

There is no condition regarding the academic qualification of writers in the guidelines issued by the Centre on February 23, 2013, but the new guidelines issued on August 29, 2018, put a rider that the qualification of the writers should be one standard below that of these students.

BENGALURU:  The Australian Consulate-General, Chennai, announced a partnership with Samarthanam Trust For The Disabled in Bengaluru on Friday, supporting the Karnataka Women’s Blind Cricket Team.
Andrew Collister, Vice Consul, said, “We are delighted to announce this partnership on the same day as Australia plays India in the opening game of the Women’s T20 World Cup in Sydney, Australia. Australia is proud to support women’s cricket from grassroots to the elite.”