Visually impaired Tiruchi girl emerges State-first in Tamil Braille reading, writing

R. Kavya, a partially-sighted Class X student of Government Higher Secondary School for Visually Impaired Girls (GHSSVIG) in Puthur, has done her alma mater proud by standing first in the State in both reading and writing Braille Tamil competitions held earlier this month in Chennai.

Kavya, who dreams of becoming an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer one day, was chosen as the best from around 90 visually impaired students from private and Government institutions on January 4.

In the Tamil category, the oral skills competition involved a timed reading of a Braille text on tourism, while in the written contest, students were tested on how accurately they were able to render in Braille, a dictated essay on the Sithanavasal caves. The exams were also held in English.

"Knowing Braille helps you to be self-reliant when you are studying," Kavya toldThe Hindu. "You can be sure of the right spelling and punctuation with Braille, and don't have to wait for someone to read out material," she added.

Kavya was felicitated for her achievement recently at a public grievance meeting conducted by Tiruchi District Collector K. Rajamani.

The 15-year-old has been studying in GHSSVIG since Class VI and says she did not prepare especially for the competitions. "I enjoy studying Tamil grammar; it's my favourite subject in class as well. Our teachers teach all our subjects in Braille simultaneously, so we had good practice," she said.

Kavya was one among nine GHSSVIG students who attended the preliminary round of tests held in Madurai. Five of them qualified for the finals in Chennai.

Essential skill

"Though Braille is an essential skill for visually impaired children, many of them stop using it once they reach senior school, because they are allowed to use sighted scribes while appearing for college exams," said M. Tamilselvi, Headmistress, GHSSVIG. "Unfortunately this also means that the students will lose marks for the mistakes made by their scribes. This is why we prefer our children to keep updating their knowledge of Braille along with other assistive technology available in the market these days. Since phonetics are not similar in reading and writing, relying on audio communication alone is not enough," she added.

Mrs. Tamilselvi also said that the school has requested for an educational grant of Rs. 10,000 from the discretionary fund of the Collectorate, for Kavya.

"I'd like all visually impaired children to use Braille effectively. It will help them get ahead in life," Kavya said.

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