“I want to become a coach for other youngsters who love judo like I do,” says martial arts enthusiast Santosh Kumar, a visually challenged boy from Sambri village in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh. He already has several medals at the national level judo championship and is now waiting for an opportunity to play at the international level.

Kumar cleared Class VIII recently from a residential school run by the All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB) located in village Behrampur in district Gurugram, Haryana. The school has served as a platform for many girls and boys from villages and small towns to set their goals high despite being totally or partially blind.

Most of the children of the Captain Chandanlal Special School for the Blind belong to families with low incomes. Importantly, it is equipped with all necessary state-of-the-art aides for blind students to learn subjects of their choice, including science, geography, maths and computers. Some of the imported devices have been improvised to suit their needs.

Beyond book study

Neena, the school headmistress, says a lot of emphasis is placed on the active participation of students in co-curricular activities and competitions. To ensure that they do not drop out after Class VIII, they are admitted to a nearby government school and allowed to avail hostel facilities, coaching and financial assistance.

Khushboo, who shifted to a school for sighted children, took time to adjust to it as there were no special teachers or facilities for her. But the Class IX exam results surprised everyone. Khushboo ranked second, beating over 20 students with normal vision in her class. “This would not have been possible without the help of the teachers in my previous school,” she says. Khushboo lost her eyesight when she was five due to smallpox. She wants to become a lecturer in Sanskrit.

At the school, the emphasis is on making students computer-savvy, says Deepak Gupta, who has come from Korba district, Chhattisgarh, to teach the blind in Behrampur. “Ultimately, when they go for higher studies or take up jobs, they need to be proficient in using computers.” Four out of 11 school teachers are also visually challenged.

AICB Secretary General J L Kaul says they want to upgrade the school to Class XII. For this, there is need to appoint more teachers and construct additional classrooms, which would need funds. He welcomes a grant by the Haryana Education Department for the purpose.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi

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