Computer-savvy visually impaired student scores 486 in Class 12 Board exams

Independent and confident — that’s how M. Anand describes his feeling of having written the board exams. The first visually impaired student to write the State board Class 12 exams on a computer, Anand scored 486 out of 600.

Independent and confident — that’s how M. Anand describes his feeling of having written the board exams. The first visually impaired student to write the State board Class 12 exams on a computer, Anand scored 486 out of 600.

The 18-year-old from Sirkazhi said, “I was scared of taking the exams on a laptop as my future was at stake, but after writing two exams, the fear subsided. It was great knowing that I could hit backspace on an answer to delete it. The doubt would always linger with a scribe.”

A student of Government Higher Secondary School for the Visually Impaired in Poonamallee, Anand always loved computers. “It was after the Class 10 exams that I decided to write the exams on a laptop and not use a scribe,” he recalled.

Anand wants to become a professor and plans to pursue a B.A. in English.

With the help of his parents and NGOs, he learned to type in Tamil and English on a laptop. He also used a laptop to write the Class 12 quarterly and half-yearly exams. The school approached the Welfare of the Differently-Abled Department seeking permission for him to continue the practice in public exams too. Anand wrote his board exams on a computer with a scribe reading out the questions.