new delhi kartiksawhney had to wage a battle before being allowed to study science in class xi the cbse was not convinced kartik who is completely blind would be able to handle the visual inputs graphs diagrams models required for science the doubters got their answer on monday kartik scored a 95 aggregate in science with computers in class xii the dps r k puram student is now off to stanford university to study computer science if he had his way however kartik would have studied in an iit in india but changes in iitjoint entrance exam rules introduced last year have made it impossible for blind students to qualify he said kartik said till last year blind students taking the jee had exemption from visual input they could attempt only the theory questions and their ranks would be determined by their performance in those we could also have a scribe and reader from science background he said but this year blind students were no longer exempted neither were they allowed to use assistive technology they expected me to multiply 11652 with 651 mentally said kartik and according to the new policy i could have a scribe and reader only from humanities or commerce streams it is argued that a scribe with a science background can help the candidate with his answers as a result kartik had to work with readers who were not able to identify symbols and terminology in question papers ive had one reader describe a symbol as an ulta v he said it couldve been a pi or a lambda but i dont know he said ive never seen a pi if the education system had prevailed kartik wouldnt have come this far he had to write more than two dozen letters to the cbse and its controller of exams had an ngo campaign and his school negotiate for him before he was allowed to opt for science in class xi it was very difficult to convince the authorities to let me study science says kartik the son of a caraccessories store owner once he finally got to study science his school delhi public school r k puram found ways to help him for practicals the teacher explained the apparatus and in the test i got multiple choice questions based on the practical curriculum he said kartiks case is exceptional said george abraham ceo of delhibased score foundation after class viii most blind were exempted from studying maths and science they would be offered subjects like music now some schools allow science but the number is low abraham adding that from 2012 cbse has allowed multiplechoice questions in lieu of practicals and computerbased exams in school kartik was even allowed to perform experiments but none that were hazardous involving toxic chemicals he also used a range of assistive devices and software he used one to convert graphs into verbal descriptions but there was little material available that was accessible in india