Trinidad: Blind boy headed to secondary after passing exams
(Trinidad Express) Stay focused, relax, say your prayers and believe in yourself.
This was the advice of 14-year-old pupil Kesean Pierre, who is visually impaired and wrote this year’s Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination.
Kesean passed for Valencia Secondary School, but due to the lack of access ramps for children with disabilities, his family decided it would be better if he were transferred to Guaico Secondary School where there is easier accessibility.
Speaking to the Express, his mother, Stacy Pierre, said she was very proud of Kesean on his accomplishment as he has worked very hard.
Kesean, of Sangre Grande, become totally blind at the age of 11, having lost his sight to a rare eye disease.
Stacy Pierre said it was difficult for her and her family, especially Kesean, but that did not stop him from blazing forward in life and giving his all to everything he did.
Kesean attended the School for Blind Children, which was relocated to Five Rivers. Due to a lack of communication between the school’s administration and the family, Kesean lost more than a year of studies, leading to him sitting the SEA examination late
Kesean Pierre with his proud mother Stacy.
Despite that setback, Kesean, supported by his family, made the necessary sacrifices for him to attain his goals.
“It was tough and he had to use an aid for the exams, but the best thing any parent could do for the child who is writing the SEA is to never give up on them. Have hope that everything will be alright, push them to do their best and really just be a support for them because that is very important,” said his mother.
“Valencia Secondary doesn’t have the ramps and access for him, but Guaico does because they said they have other children with disabilities there, so we were able to get a transfer. So from September, he would start there.”
‘Do your best’
Kesean said he always wanted to be a pilot, but given his visual impairment, he would like to get involved with computers.
Speaking to the Express, the outspoken young man said: “The maths was a bit challenging, but the entire exam was normal. My advice to other children, because I have some friends from school who writing next year, is that it doesn’t matter what people say about the exams.
“Be focused, relax, say your prayers, believe in yourself and do your best. It really doesn’t matter what school you pass for. All that matters is how far you can reach at that school by working hard.”
Kesean was a member of the School for the Blind cricket team.
