Education and Employment

Near blind girl scores 91.5 per cent in Class 12 exams

With just 2 per cent vision in both her eyes, Aditi Shah did not let her impairment come in the way. She scored 91.5 per cent in Maharashtra's HSC (Class 12, junior college) exams.

"I was expecting to score below 90 per cent. But when I heard I scored close to 92 per cent, I didn't know how to react," an elated Aditi said.

Born sighted, Aditi was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a disease which results in progressive loss of vision, when she was 10.

Darkness was no obstacle in this girl’s long trek to success

Even for brisk walkers, it takes a two-day trek from the Solukhumbu district headquarters in Nepal to get to Goma Rai’s village. “The walk is easier in the winter. In the summer, the rains make you slip. The locals do not slip, but I did,” Goma smiles.

Blind scholar, guided by blind teacher, gets PhD

He could not see it, but the thunderous, rapturous applause that will ring in Sanjay Jain's ears for a long time told him that he had earned it. Having just won the longest ovation of the ceremony, Jain stood up modestly, a big smile on his face.

For Jain, who is blind since birth, this was one of his life's best moments. He was awarded PhD in law during the 97th convocation ceremony of Nagpur University on Saturday. Interestingly, Jain's guide was head of law department Shirish Deshpande, who is also blind.

Making it to MIT against odds

Bolla Srikanth was barely few years old when many in his community counselled his parents to abandon him. The pressure was heavy on his illiterate parents, a farmer father and housewife mother, but they never yielded. Had they heeded their advice, the world would have been minus one inspiring story today.

Into management institutes, with visual impairment

Many people who have a disability don't let it prevent them from leading a fulfilling life. They are an inspiration to both disabled and non-disabled people alike. Alpana Dubey, Goma Rai, and Vishal Jain are among the few people who have proven that visual impairment cannot deter them from achieving their goals.

Extra time for the disabled in SCERT exams

The Delhi State Council of Education, Research and Training has decided to allow an extra time of 20 minutes per hour to persons with disabilities who take the assistance of a writer.

The decision was taken in compliance with National Human Rights Commission recommendations.

In a statement, the NHRC said the SCERT would allot extra time to candidates in the examinations scheduled from April-May 2011 onwards.

Mumbai boy first blind trader in a bank

Breaking records is almost a way of life for 30-year-old Mumbai boy Ashish Goyal. He was the first blind student to make it to Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, four years ago. If that isn't enough, Ashish cleared his MBA with honours and went on to win the Joseph P Wharton award, given to one student every year who symbolizes Wharton's way of life. Ashish, who now lives in London, is the first blind trader at J P Morgan, and possibly in any bank anywhere in the world.

Rajasthan lends a helping hand for children with special needs

A group of women spending several hours outside a room in a government school in Amer block in Rajasthan is a common sight these days. This room is no ordinary classroom, but a resource room for children with special needs who have so far gone unnoticed in the traditional schooling system. However, with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act coming into effect, the needs of differently-abled children are coming into focus.

Society has to come to terms with PwD

Nasscom Foundation’s CEO, Rita Soni, and vice-president, research, Sagarika Bose, are optimistic that the foundation’s Persons with Disabilities (PwD) employment fair will prove to be a medium for private companies in the IT sector to create employment opportunities for the disabled. The fair will be held in New Delhi on 10 December. In an interview, the two talk about the foundation’s three-point agenda to enable people with disabilities, and the approach companies need to adopt to hire such people. Edited excerpts:

Government should commit to “inclusive education” of visually impaired children

Participants at a day’s forum in Ho on Wednesday urged government to demonstrate commitment to “inclusive education” for children with visual impairment.

They said few children with disabilities who found themselves in segregated special schools have difficulty integrating into the larger society after their training and that children with disabilities have the right to “inclusive education”.