Braving odds, 2 endosulfan students excel in SSLC exam

Braving the odds, two endosulfan victims from Dakshina Kannada have passed SSLC exam. While Abhishek a resident of Perabe scored 463/625 marks, Tulasi of Kunthoor in Puttur taluk has secured 66%.

Abhishek, son of Gangarathna and Vasanth, is the student of Endosulfan Victims Day Care Centre at Koila. His legs are crippled and not is a position to walk or write due to the indiscriminate use of endosulfon in the region. But that didn’t deter him from scoring 91 in Hindi, 90 in Kannada, 89 in Social Science, 88 in English, 54 in Science and 51 in Mathematics.

He wrote the exam with the help of a scribe. Abhishek said he could excel with the guidance of Kalladka Higher Primary School teacher Sowmyalatha and Day Care Centre teacher Shashikala.

Another endosulfan victim Tulasi, daughter of Yashoda and Narayana Naik, too cleared the SSLC exam with flying colours. She is the member of Kokkada Endosulfan Day Care Centre.

DDPI Shivaramaiah told DH, “When students write the exam privately, they have to come to district headqurters to take the exam. However, the department took special permission from the authorities concerned and allotted examination centre near the house of these two children. This has prevented them from travelling all the way to district headquarters for writing the exam.

In another case, a victim of a sexual assault, has passed the exam in the district. The minor was able to continue her studies with the support of the district administration, DPI and the Child Welfare Committee.