Mr Haroon Kareem, who hails from Malappuram district of Kerala is the first visually impaired student who has taken the SSLC state boards without the help of a ‘scribe’ or ‘interpreter’, and instead taken all his exams on a computer, himself. Haroon, who was born blind, has already developed 25 software and mobile apps to help the visually-challenged students in their studies.
A student of Government Higher Secondary School, Mankada, Haroon bid adieu to Braille in Class VIII. He used his laptop to take down notes and was determined to take SSLC exam on a computer without a scribe’s support. He wrote his SSLC exam using a screen reader and infinity editor developed by him. Though he faced many technical hurdles, he did not give up.
With the results being announced , he has secured A+ in all the subjects. Mr Haroon is thrilled about his results and is lucid clear about his future plans. He wants to take up Computer Science stream in his Grade 11 and 12 and aims to do B.Tech from Stanford University.
He says his greatest support comes from his parents, friends ,teachers and the Chakshumathi Organization, a kerala based NGO, working for developing resources for the use of visually impaired people. He is also part of the project by Chakshumathi organization “Let us flatten the inaccessibility curve”.
Mr Haroon opines that if technology is made accessible to all the visually impaired ,then they would be “enabled” and not “disabled”. Haroon has already begun offering online classes via zoom for the visually impaired.
