I wish, we should contact the student and help her in procuring books on computer. If anyone knows this student please send me her E-mail address. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1161103/jsp/northeast/story_117078.jsp Shillong, Nov. 2: Bertina Lyngdoh, 28, a visually-impaired student from Sumer village in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya, may have been inspired by the legendary singer's words to go to school like any other student despite the handicap.
Bertina, the fourth among five siblings, has incredible achievements in her career thus far. . Now with an MA in English degree from the North Eastern Hill University (Nehu) here, she has become the first visually-impaired student to achieve this feat in the state. In 1991, when she was only three years old, Bertina fell sick and had to drop out of school in the middle of the year as her sickness lasted for over a year. But when she was cured, she lost sight in both the eyes. Doctors who treated her informed her family that she would lose her eyesight once the sickness is cured. "After I was cured and became blind, I remembered my days in school and wanted to be back in school," Bertina said. Her aspiration to be in a school put her family in a dilemma. However, amid their despair, the door of opportunity opened when one of the teachers in the village, on seeing Bertina's penchant for learning, convinced her grandparents and her late father Plik Dkhar that she should be sent to Bethany Society here. It was in 1993 that Bertina joined Jyoti Sroat School, an inclusive school for people with special needs, run and maintained by Bethany Society. Bertina passed her matriculation in 2007 and secured third division. After this, she joined Loreto Convent and passed her 10+2 (arts) from St Mary's College here. Her dream to pursue higher studies did not end there. In 2010, she pursued a one-year course on computer and office management at the Institute of National Federation for the Blind in Assam. "After completing this course, I wanted to pursue BA (English honours) in Cotton College, but I was in a dilemma as nobody would help me. With the help of Fr Edmund Lakrai, I decided to take admission to Cotton College in 2011. However office staff of the college hesitated to give the form and told me that it would be difficult to study there since I am different from others," she said. Bertina, however, approached the vice-principal of the college who, after hearing the problem she narrated, gave an authorised letter for her admission. "Life at Cotton College was full of joy and the classmates, too, were very helpful," Bertina said. She passed BA (English honours) in second division in 2014. After completing her graduation, she returned to Shillong to continue further studies and decided to seek admission in Nehu in 2014 to pursue MA (English). "The admission story in Nehu was similar to that of Cotton College. I told the office staff of Nehu that 'until you gave me a chance, how will you know whether I can deliver or not?' With the help of S.K. Seal, state programme officer of the State Resource Centre Shillong, I got admission to the university," she said. Bertina passed her MA English this year in second class. "It was difficult in Nehu since there was no Braille textbook for the blind. But I managed my own Braille copy for taking notes. The teachers and my classmates in the university were supportive and helpful. They dropped me at Bethany Society everyday," Bertina said. Bertina has been teaching at Jyoti Sroat School here for students of Classes VIII to XII for the last three months and enjoys the profession. However she regretted that the facilities for teaching the visually impaired students are yet to be available in the state. Teaching Alternative English to students of Classes XI and XII is difficult in the absence of a Braille textbook. "I used to go to cyber cafe everyday to get the teaching materials from the Internet so that I can teach students the next day," Bertina said. A determined Bertina now wants to pursue PhD in Nehu. In her inspirational message to people, Bertina said: "If you aim high, you will achieve the goal. There were times when I lost hope, but I always tried to come out of that situation. Being lonely without relatives to inspire me, I was determined that I should suffer now because I know the fruits of success will come later. I am happy that God has tested me with all these challenges. There are people who are fully fit but fail in life. If I being blind can achieve, why not others? If you are tired of study and feel bored in life, think and remember me. Study with full concentration and do not burden yourself," she said. Speaking to The Telegraph here today, Nehu's head of the English department, Sukalpa Bhattacharjee praised Bertina and termed her an "extraordinary student". "As far I know, Bertina is the first visually impaired student from the university to pass MA in English," Bhattacharjee said. Asked how Bertina could cope with the classes, especially in the absence of Braille textbooks, Bhattacharjee said: "Bertina sat together in the classroom with other normal students. She is very sharp in listening and brought her own Braille copy for taking notes. The teachers were very cooperative and took extra classes for her if she did not understand. The entire class stood behind her.? "She is a different type of girl and a good singer too. She was extremely determined, mentally strong and physically agile. We treated Bertina like any other student and she also felt she was not different," an elated Bhattacharjee said. On Bertina's plan to pursue PhD in Nehu, Bhattacharjee said that it might be difficult since the university has no facility such as Braille library for the blind at present. "During the academic council meeting in October 2015, I have moved for getting the facilities for visually impaired students. I hope action will be taken in this regard since it has not happened till now," Bhattacharjee said. According to her, Bertina can approach institutes like IITs and English and Foreign Languages University for doing PhD since these institutes have the required facilities. On how Bertina writes her exam, Bhattacharejee said: "A separate room was arranged for Bertina during exam. She functions through a scribe. When the scribe read out the questions, she dictated her answers to the scribe." -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. 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