Specially-abled pass with flying colours

MUMBAI: Overcoming all odds, Mumbai’s differently-abled students passed out their Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination with flying colours. Faizan Khan, visually-impaired student of VES Swami Vivekanad Junior College, Chembur has scored 79.38 per cent in his class 12 examinations (Arts stream). According to his college teachers, Faizan, who aspires to become an IAS officer, is very hard working and determined. He used to record audio during lectures to help him in his studies.

"My teachers and friends explained all notes to me. They even helped me cope up with exam pressure," said Faizan, who is a former student of the Victoria School for Blind at Tardeo. The IAS aspirant is keen on pursuing Bachelors in Arts through correspondence and LL.B course.

Apart from Faizan, "Mahesh Chowdhary (Commerce) scored 56.02 per cent while Aksa from the Science stream scored 67.07 per cent whose parents are overwhelmed by her performance. Both Mahesh and Aksa are physically handicapped.

 Vikram Vishwakarma, an Arts student of K.J. Somaiya Junior College of Arts and Commerce Commerce scored 73.84 per cent. Vikram being a visually impaired student is enthusiastic about extracurricular activities related to literature.

According to the college, his interest had made him participate in various inter college competitions organised by Sanskrit sabha and Hindi Parisabha.

“Being visually impaired should never be considered as a curse,” said Vikram, who prefers studying in the morning than late night and wants to contribute to the literature field in the future. Hanuman Nishad, a visually impaired student from the same scored 52.92 per cent and has a special interest in Information and Technology.