Every problem has a solution

Where there’s a will there’s a way. Impossible is nothing. No, you are not reading clichés or advertisements here. These are statements of truth for millions of persons with vision impairment, who thought they lost their chance of education.

Often blind children and their families are ignorant about the possibility of getting formal education due to vision impairment. There are also people who drop out midway because of losing sight at a later stage in life.

For all these cases, there is hope in the form of National Institute of Open Schooling or NIOS. The Eyeway Helpdesk which disseminates information on living life with blindness, has guided many blind people across India to resume education and make a better, independent living. Here are some such accounts.

26-year-old Shikha from Sonipat, Haryana born to an educated family, dropped out of school after Class 2 due to poor vision. As she grew up, she felt ‘lesser’ than her peers, friends and cousins. Eyeway informed her about NIOS and at 25, she enrolled for Class X and secured a high percentage. She went on to pursue Class 12 alongside preparing for competitive exams.

19-year-old Pradeep Kumar from Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh lost his vision when he was three. He studied till Class V in an institution in Delhi after which he returned home to take admission in a mainstream school. Unfortunately, he couldn’t continue school due to a financial crunch following his father’s demise. After a gap of few years, he enrolled in Class X through NIOS on Eyeway’s suggestion and is studying with the aid of audio books.

21-year-old Manmohan Singh from Gonda, Uttar Pradesh could not complete Class X from mainstream school because of lack of awareness. The school didn’t facilitate a scribe for Manmohan to write his Board exams. Later on, the Eyeway counselor explained NIOS enrolment procedure so that he could appear for his Class X exams without wasting a whole academic year.

These are a few cases resolved by our dedicated team of visually impaired counselors. The objective driving Eyeway’s work is to raise the awareness levels and direct blind people to solutions like open schooling and other initiatives of both government and non-government organizations that can empower them towards independent living.