Bengaluru: For the first time in Karnataka, six visually impaired students from Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind, JP Nagar, appeared for SSLC exam using laptops instead of scribes.
The students, who had been training in digital literacy since class 8, completed their exams independently on laptops, without relying on scribes. Among them, the top scorer achieved an impressive 89.9%. The laptops, supplied by the school, were formatted and cleared by Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) to ensure exam integrity. Internet access was disabled and the exams were conducted under strict supervision.

During the exam, students had questions read aloud by juniors from class 9, while they typed out their answers themselves, including in languages and mathematics. Of the 19 students at the school, six chose the digital mode. “There have always been challenges with scribes,” said a teacher from the school. “Sometimes they don’t transcribe accurately, read questions improperly or simply write too slowly. Also, it’s difficult to find reliable scribes. That’s when we started advocating for laptop use. If this model succeeds, it could revolutionise the way exams are conducted.”
Though CBSE had previously permitted digital exams, this marks the first instance of KSEAB doing so. The board also issued a detailed circular with guidelines for digital exam procedures. “This was something we were prepared for,” said Pavani ML, who topped with 89.9%. “We’ve been learning digital tools like Word, Excel, and email since class 8. We used laptops, had six class 9 readers help us with questions, saved our answers on pen drives, and printed them before deleting the files. Writing exams digitally was a great experience.”
The 54-year-old institution hopes this breakthrough paves the way for inclusive, tech-enabled exam method.