Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai, has extended full scholarship to J. Kaviya, a visually challenged student who scored 565 marks in the Class 12 State Board examination this year.

Kaviya has taken up English Literature for her undergraduate course. She was welcomed into the college on Wednesday by V.M. Muralidharan, Chairman, Ethiraj College, in the presence of S. Uma Gowrie, Principal and Secretary, and Beulah Jebakumari Suganthi, Vice Principal.

Quite early in her childhood, Kaviya was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that caused the light-sensing cells in the retina to gradually die. “We initially got her admitted to LKG in a mainstream school,” recalls Prema, her mother and a housewife. “Gradually, after her vision loss, there was very little choice but to send her to a special school.”

Kaviya did her entire schooling in Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School for the Blind in Nungambakkam where she stayed in the hostel. “The teachers were all helpful and a few of them really encouraged me,” she says, adding: . “They are all my favourites.” Other than studies, the students at the school went through mobility drills, Kavya recalled.

After graduation, she wishes to appear for competitive exams and pursue a career in civil services. She has already begun negotiating with her parents about living with her friends, while her parents want her to stay at the college hostel. “We are worried about her safety,” says Jayakumar, her father who is a traditional artisan weaving silk sarees using handloom in Kancheepuram. “We want her to stay at the hostel at least for the first year.”

Mr. Muralidharan said that the college was able to provide at least 20 such discretionary scholarships every year thanks to some disciplined financial planning. Marks, often, wasn’t the most important metric for selecting beneficiaries, he added.

Apart from this, the college has about 100 endowments running, the interests from which cover a substantial part of the beneficiary student’s expenses, said Dr. Uma Gowrie. Besides, the Trust also provides about Rs. 20 lakh every year to be equally distributed among meritorious students of all disciplines as a reimbursement, she noted.