Blind Dir student secures top marks in matric

Jan uses audio books to study for exams, urges govt to build facilities for specially-abled students.

PESHAWAR: For Intikham Alam Jan, a visually impaired student, his impairment was never an excuse to shy away from his studies.

So much so, that the student from the hilly areas of Maidan in Lower Dir, did not let his blindness get in the way of rising to the very top of the pile of matriculation exams, beating away competition from sighted students.

“Blindness is not my weakness,” states Jan who secured 899 marks out of a maximum 1,100 in the recently concluded matriculation exams of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education(BISE) Malakand. He beat all of the boys appearing for the board’s exams this year and along the way securing  the overall fourth position in the board’s exams.

But his journey, which as per his own admission has just completed its first leg towards the ultimate destination of becoming an English language professor, was no easy task.

One of eight siblings including three sisters and five brothers, Jan told The Express Tribune that while his primary schooling was in Mardan from grade-I to grade-V, his secondary schooling was tough for him. The journey, though, would not have been possible without his brother, he said.

“My brother used to recite passages from the books and help me memorise them,” Jan says.

However, as he grew older, the curriculum became tougher. And despite having support from his family, Jan soon realised that there were other study aids which he needed desperately.

Owing to its remoteness, books for higher secondary schools are not readily available in braille, the specially developed books which can be read by the blind.

But salvation came in the form of technological advancement – audio coursebooks.

Jan bought the recorded books, developed by an organisation for blind students in Islamabad, and listened to them on a small MP3 player.

“This is how I studied matriculation course books to prepare for the exams.”

When asked how he attempted the board examinations, Jan recounted how he had to enrol as a private candidate since his area lacked a higher secondary school. Moreover, he had to enlist the help of a grade-VIII student who read out the questions while Jan dictated the answers.

The student, despite the lack of sight, noted that his entire examination was conducted amid strict invigilation, but per rules of the board which allow for such cases.

Apart from him, one of his four brothers is also visually impaired. Hailing from a middle-class family, Jan said his father was enthusiastic about his children gaining an education, impairment or not, and had borne their expenses.

When asked about his plans for higher education since there was no college for the visually impaired in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Jan said he plans to study at the Islamia College Peshawar.

Jan, though, had one complaint, lack of facilities for special students.

“Blindness isn’t my weakness, but it hurts me whenever the government does not provide the required facilities such as special institutions for special people,” Jan lamented as he urged the education department to set up higher secondary schools and colleges for people with special abilities.

Talking about his dream job, Jan said he wants to teach the English language to those who have some special abilities.

Meanwhile, Jan’s father, Mohammad Javed, said he was happy about his son clinching the top position. Asked whether he was satisfied by the response of government officials, he conceded that he was a little disheartened by the lack of encouragement for his son by board officials.

Javed further told The Express Tribune that his son worked day and night, even during the month of Ramazan to make it to the top 10 list.

He suggested that the BISE prepare separate lists of topper of normal and special children so that they could be encouraged by inviting them to the annual prize distribution ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2017.