The Hindu : Front Page : Extra hour for visually handicapped students restored

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Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009
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Extra hour for visually handicapped students restored

R.K. Radhakrishnan and Ramya Kannan

Government had withdrawn extra time on March 3
No existing concession will be withdrawn: officials

CHENNAI: The government has decided to cancel an official communiqué that withdrew the extra time for visually handicapped students writing the Board exams, according to senior government officials. No existing concession will be withdrawn, government officials told The Hindu.

On March 3, a letter from the Government Examinations Directorate to the Social Welfare department specified that visually handicapped students will have scribes to write exams, but withdrew the extra hour. As per this letter, the extra time concession remains only for a few categories of students, including those with dyslexia and neurological defects.

In fact, the letter specifically negates the earlier Government Order 270 issued by the Social Welfare department in 1993 allowing extra time for all students with physical disabilities. It goes on to state that all disabilities are not the same and could not be treated alike, arguing that visually challenged students who have scribes need not be given the extra hour.

Meenakshi R of the State Disability Pressure Group Tamil Nadu says the withdrawal of extra time is “arbitrary and unjust.” This provision will adversely impact on the performance of students writing their exams at present and therefore will also impact on their future, she added. As per the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the State should provide all reasonable support to enable a person with disability to participate.

C. Gopikrishnan of the NGO Nethrodaya says, “It seems as if we are being told that visually handicapped students get an unfair advantage by having a scribe. Any other concession will be in excess.” In reality, he says writing an exam with the government-appointed scribe is very difficult. It requires the scribe to call out the questions to the student, who will dictate the answers, which the scribe has to write down on the answer sheet. A fair bit of time elapses in communication between the student and the scribe and allowances have to be made for that. “Most times, students find that the scribe allotted by the government has to be given even basic information,” says Mr. Gopikrishnan.

“For instance, a student who was writing accountancy exam had to tell the scribe on which side of a balance sheet the credit balance should appear. Sometimes, students have to dictate even basic spellings,” he says.

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