Malappuram (Kerala): A class 10 visually impaired student from Kerala has become the first student in India to take the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination on computers.
The student has been identified as Haroon Kareem TK of Mankada area in Malappuram district of Kerala. He is the son of Melattur Thodupuzha Kunnummal Abdul Kareem and Sabira.
According to sources, assistive technology for visually impaired students was not used in Kerala's SCERT exams. But Haroon has become the first student in the state to write the State board exams using this technology.
Haroon typed the answers on the computer for the IT practical examination. He has been permitted to use assistive technology for the examination through a special Government Order. Based on this special order, he can write his theory exams using assistive technology. He will use Indi software to write the Mathematics exam. He has been writing his annual exams with computers for the past two years, sources said.
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He had also requested the State Education Minister to help him use assistive technology to write exams in December 2019 but that request was rejected. Then he filed another plea and based on this, the state government has issued a special order that Haroon can use computers for his SSLC examinations, sources added.
Haroon studied at the Mankada Blind school till his seventh standard. He is very good at developing software also. His ambition is to become a software engineer. The SSLC board theory exams are scheduled to begin on March 10 and hopefully, this would be the first step towards creating a level playing field for visually impaired students.
