Students of DBMS Lilliput School with management committee members in Jamshedpur on Thursday

Jamshedpur, July 1: A part of Kripa Venugopalan’s dream was fulfilled when she passed Class X board exam this year. And the 21-year-old cerebral palsy patient has to thank DBMS Lilliput School, and of course hard work, for her feat.

Kripa, who cleared the exam from National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), studied at DBMS Liliput School, a project institute run by Dakshina Bharat Mahila Samajam in Kadma.

And she is not alone. As many as 23 students, all from poor families and comprising the first batch of the school, passed the exam this year. The NIOS results were declared on June 13.

“Kripa has always attended special schools, but it was DBMS Lilliput Committee that encouraged her to appear for the Class X boards. As a mother, I too wanted her to be a matriculate. As she has problems in reading and writing, she was an audio learner. She was a regular student for a year and I too attended classes with her,” said her mother Chitra Venugopalan, a member of the managing committee of DBMS Lilliput School and special educator herself.

Chitra and the schoolteachers helped Kripa achieve the milestone. Even though Chitra took the exam with the help of a writer, she managed to score 53 per cent.

The girl now wants to pursue higher studies although she is interested in becoming singer. Kripa already has a diploma in Rabindra Sangeet from Tagore School of Arts.

Each of the other 23 students has an interesting story to tell.

School topper Manjula Rani, who secured an aggregate of 70 per cent, got married last month. But the 20-year-old has no plan to quit studies and has taken admission in plus two at DBMS Lilliput School with the dream of becoming an opthalmologist.

Then there is Anju Harpal, whose father Ram Singh Harpal is a carpenter. Anju started attending school without telling her parents.

It was only when they spotted her books and notebooks that they came to know the truth.

“We are five sisters. Three of my elder sisters are illiterate. They have got married. But I always wanted to study and approached the principal of the school as my family could have never afforded my education. It feels great that I am at least a matriculate now,” said Anju, who has taken admission in Jamshedpur Women’s College for intermediate studies and wants to become a dance teacher.

“Most of these students did not know how to read and write but were motivated to attend school. Also many work at various shops and factories to earn their livelihood in the morning and then attend school for three hours in the afternoon. Today, it feels great to know that they have passed their Class X exam,” said Laxmi Varadharajan, principal of DBMS Lilliput School.