Students with special needs in the State, who have been successfully appearing for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams using digital technology, are facing uncertainty over the interpretation of Government Order (GO) No 86.
While the order allows exemptions for second and third languages, it is being misinterpreted as a ban on writing Hindi as a third language. This has disappointed students aspiring to join the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other national institutes, where marks are considered out of 600, not 500, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
One such student, Safaru Sanath Kumar, appeared for the SSA Board exam offline using a Chromebook and printed his typed answer sheets for evaluation. Despite his achievement, he now faces an unexpected hurdle due to the State's rule.
Sanath, recently honoured as a Google Student Champion at Google’s Gurugram headquarters, has urged Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Nara Lokesh to intervene.
Born with growth hormone deficiency, Sanath initially struggled to write lengthy answers. However, after discovering digital tools like Google AI and a Chromebook, he mastered all subjects, including maths, and is appearing for SSC board exams with permission from Director of Government Examinations KV Srinivas Reddy.
In the 2024–25 academic year, Ramanagiri Bhargavi faced a similar issue. Despite attempting the Hindi exam, her answer sheets were not evaluated, restricting her total score to 500 instead of 600. Students like Sanath now fear this restriction could affect their IIT aspirations unless urgent intervention allows them to take the Hindi exam on Wednesday.
“I have worked hard for this moment. Every student, regardless of ability, should have the right to attempt all subjects. Urgent action is needed to ensure equal opportunities for all,” Sanath said.
This year, seven other students from Anantapur’s RDT Inclusive High School, including low-vision student Dasari Chamundeswari, who scored full marks in Hindi in Class IX, and Kurbha Iswarya, eager to write Hindi, face similar uncertainty, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
