Blind faith and hard work got these girls to the top

By: Gayatri Vasudevan

MVinitha, a student of

Little Flower Convent for the Blind

, Chennai, was excited when she was found she had secured 91.2% in the

Class X boards

, the highest in her school. Vinitha, who was a year old when she lost her eyesight, was also diagnosed with a speech disorder, which made it doubly hard to work with a scribe for all her five papers, but which she says, has also made the results doubly sweet. “I think it was my consistent hard work that helped me get these marks,” says Vinitha, whose father is an employee at a store. “My teachers and classmates were supportive and encouraged me to try my hand at everything, including sport and drama,” adds Vinitha, who shared sweets with her classmate Gayathri S, who secured 443/500 becoming third in her school.

“Despite my visual impairment and spinal problem, I have won several

national level

braille competitions organised in Delhi and never stopped dreaming. I am a little disappointed that I did not come first, but I am capable of achieving more and will try a lot harder in Class XII,” says Gayathri, with a shy giggle.

The students showed a lot of enthusiasm in academics as well as in extracurricular activities, says

Regina Puthota

, their class teacher, who designed braille books and printed guides to help the students.

“But the lack of trained scribes at school brought down the marks for many. We had to instruct the scribe for Vinitha to be patient with her because of her stammer, and I am glad that she has performed well. We are really happy that all our 16 students have contributed towards the cent percent results,” she says.