Two deaf-blind students are writing their SSC exams this year. Kajal Mandhare, 22, and Krutika Mehta, 20, students of Hellen Keller Institute for Deaf and Deaf-Blind in Ghansoli are helped by interpreters to understand the questions.

While Kajal has Ascher syndrome as a result of which she can barely see anything, Krutika, who was born with multiple disabilities, has partial vision owing to a recent cataract operation.

The board has allowed two teachers from the school to be the interpreters for the students. “These students have very little vision and cannot hear so giving a writer will be of no use. We have thus allowed their teachers to accompany them at the centre to help them understand the questions,” said an official from the state board.

The teachers use tactile sign language to convey the questions to Kajal and Krutika, who then write their answers in a big font. “Both girls can see only if the text is magnified three times the original size. Since we were slightly late in writing to the board about this, magnified papers could not be arranged. We now use tactile sign language (using touch) to tell them the questions after which they write their answers on the answer sheet in a big font,” said Vanita Masdekar, teacher.

The students have opted for special subjects like milk and milk products, easy mathematics and lower level Marathi, as per the provisions for them. “It takes three years for us to train them for each class,” said Masdekar.

First Published: Mar 02, 2019 11:28 IST