Kiran Jonathan Lall may have partial vision but that didn't stop him from getting a place at one of south Trinidad's top primary schools.
The five-year-old is expected to start at Grant Memorial Presbyterian in September.
Kiran, who lives with his parents Kevon and Asha Alexander Lall at Olera Heights, San Fernando, graduated from the Wee Ones Childcare Centre at Rushworth Street, San Fernando on Sunday.
Dressed in his red graduation grown and matching mortarboard, Kiran strutted down the aisle, smiling at his principal Claudette Burnette, his teachers and parents.
His father said Kiran was born with congenital bilateral cataracts. At the age of two months, he underwent surgery to remove the cataracts.
“It was a tough time for us and we had him stay with a babysitter until he was one. Then we decided that it was time for him to go to school and we enrolled him at Wee Ones,” Kevon said.
Asha explained how Kiran reads and writes.
“Because he is visually impaired, he reads large print but he is very bright and we were glad that he had the requisite skills to get into Grant school. Since he joined Wee Ones, he has been learning and progressing well. He reads for us. His teacher boasts that he is one of the brightest students.” Asha said.
She also said that Kiran was good with colors and often helped her to match her clothes.
“When I dress up, he says, 'Mummy you look so pretty,'” Asha said smiling.
Asha is also blind, and so bonded with her son in a special way.
“From the time he could walk, he was leading me around the house. He helps me to wash clothes and if anything is on the ground, he picks it up. He is very tidy,” she said.
Principal impressed
Burnette said she did not usually take in students with special abilities because of the shortage of specially trained staff. The school has a population of 154 pupils and 22 members of staff.
But Kiran impressed Burnette with her abilities and she has found his progress gratifying. Burnette, worked as a social worker in Trinidad before migrating to North Carolina where she operated two childcare centres.
In 2002, she returned to T&T and opened the Wee Ones Childcare Centre. Burnette said she hoped to open a second branch of her school in Cocoyea in September.