Chennai: R.Sandhya and R.Saranya, bright among the visually challenged are nurturing the IAS dreams. They are from the Little Flower Convent higher secondary school for the blind in Chennai.
Sandhya scored 1,140 out of 1,200 and got state second rank among the visually challenged candidates. She is from Tenali in Andhra Pradesh and staying with her grandparents in Chennai. She is partially blind and can’t read a printed book.
“I want to study BA English literature and MBA. I am aspiring to become an IAS officer,” she said.
Saranya who came school second with 1,138 didn’t get the state rank as her first language was not Tamil. Both her parents are visually challenged and working as teachers. She also wants to study B.A. English literature. “I want to become an IAS officer and serve the people. I also visited Delhi twice to receive prizes. Facilities in Delhi colleges were so good,” she said.
“We want our daughter to pursue under graduation at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. We have applied to various colleges like St.Stephen’s, Lady Sriram and Indraprastha as these colleges have more facilities for visually challenged. We are hopeful of getting a seat there,” said V.Shanthi, Saranya’s mother and lecturer in District Institute of Education and Training in Chennai.
“The performance of visually challenged depends on scribes they get in exams. Though they have one hour grace time during the exam, the scribes also must have the patience to write everything in the paper,” said a teacher of the school.
P.Gayathri, who is studying at Little Flower Convent higher secondary school for deaf and dumb, secured the first rank among the deaf and dumb candidates. Her father M.Palanisamy is a farmer from Kodumudi in Erode district. He said his daughter wants to study B.Com and was aiming for a job in banking sector.
