FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE WORLD –
Incredible achievement by the blind students of:
– Nethra Vidyalayam Junior College – JET
The first Junior college in Andhra Pradesh exclusively for the Blind & Visually Challenged, was started at Kukatpalli, Hyderabad. It was inaugurated on Aug 31st, 2007 and is now functioning at Shamshabad, Hyderabad. The junior college provides free education along with free boarding clothing and basic medical facilties for low socio-economic underprivileged blind students.
53 Blind students from all over the state, have enrolled and joined to study , C.E.C (Commerce Economics Civics) and H.E.C (History Economics Civics) groups, in English medium, in this Junior College
For the first time in the world, the Nethravidyala Jr. College blind students of Hyderabad, appeared for their –
final public exams using laptop computers. They wrote the languages (Telugu/Sanskrit) – exams with the help of ‘Scribes’ and the rest of the exams have been completed by typing the answers using the laptop computers. Regular, Intermediate exams started on March 5th and the students wrote their first examination using laptops on March 8th 2008. Though it is a miraculous achievement on their part, after careful observation and study of the Blind students, Government gave permission for them to write exams on the laptops.
Problems faced by the students earlier:
The blind students, earlier faced difficulty using the scribes for all exams. It was hard for them to dictate the answers to the scribes. They were hesitant about expressing their answers and felt more comfortable writing by themselves instead. Besides, they needed the help of a scribe with a lower qualification who can interpret their words and write them down as it is.
Innovative Solution by JET
To overcome these difficulties and to make the blind students self-reliant, HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji proposed a brilliant idea of using the available technology – Laptop computers.
The Intermediate Board of Andhra Pradesh, after much deliberation, observed and tested the blind students for the necessity of laptop computers as a medium for education. And after pursuing all practical considerations gave the permission to the blind students to write the exams using the laptops.
the Nethravidyala Jr. College blind students of Hyderabad, appeared for their –
final public exams using laptop computers. the Nethravidyala Jr. College blind students of Hyderabad, appeared for their –
final public exams using laptop computers. 
How it helped:
Technology proved to be a boon for the blind.
Let us use it for boosting their talents and for their upliftment in the society.
World has changed a lot with the modern technology. Let the blind people who cannot physically look at the colourful world around, too, share the right benefits of the technology, to look through it…
– HH Sri Swamiji.
JET provided one laptop per student for their education. Intensive training was provided, to the necessary extent, on how to use the laptops for learning the courses and for proper representation. Special typing classes were conducted, all in addition to their regular studies. Many pre – examinations were conducted and the students felt highly confident and self-reliant. It’s a tough challenge for them, but their spirit of commitment combined with the boosting encouragement made them achieve the task. As usual their centre of examination was given in a different college. Students typed the answers and gave printouts. Their own performance and their spirit of achievement was highly acknowledged by all the staff and the officers, as well as the Board representatives, who witnessed these examinations. This is the first time in their life that these students ever gave any Public examination without the help of personal assistant/scribe. It is also for the first time in the world that such an attempt was made, that came out highly successful.
The laptop computers are equipped with screen-reader-software that pronounces all the details typed and reads out the typed matter, by word, by sentence or by paragraph so that students can listen and type correctly. The computers can also read every command, focus, the options displayed on the screen, in accordance with the keyboard events and configuration by the user. HH Sri Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji after observing the scribe system and the advanced technology in different countries for the blind people, responded to support the cause of blind students by helping them perform by themselves to their fullest satisfaction. It is this brilliant idea of HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji to help the blind people that changed their way of life and attitude to aspire for better things and advancement in their career.
We appreciate your support for the blind.