The association is contesting the new, stricter regulations that have come around for scribes or writers who assist visually impaired students while attempting competitive exams
Until now, blind students attempted competitive exams with the help of writers they picked. Representation pic/iStock
The National Association for the Blind (NAB), Mumbai, has launched a formal “protest and request” against the new competitive exam guidelines issued by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPWD), under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The association is contesting the new, stricter regulations that have come around for scribes or writers who assist visually impaired students while attempting competitive exams.
Taking cognisance of the matter, NAB Chairman Trustee, Dr Vimal Kumar Dengla, sent out a letter on August 28, stating: “While we recognise the legitimate objective of preserving the integrity of public examinations, the guidelines in their present form violate core principles of natural justice and equal participation for persons who are blind or have low vision, and therefore must be withdrawn or substantially revised.”
The new DEPWD guidelines encourage the use of technology-aided exams and professionally ascertained scribe-pools to maintain integrity of examinations, moving away from the current practice of blind students being accompanied by their own writers for the examination. Contesting the move, NAB has asked for seven amendments to the guidelines — the first one being to allow blind student to bring their own writer to a competitive exam.
The association has asked the department to ensure that all mentioned technology and quality scribe pools are in place before the strict curtailment on the writer pool kicks in. NAB has also demanded a pre-exam interaction between the visually-impaired students and the assigned scribes, mock tests on the chosen mode, and grievance/appeal mechanisms that are time-bound and accessible.
“We already have so many cases of server failures when it comes to conducting nationwide competitive examinations. In such a case, ensuring that all blind students have proper technological infrastructure is very important before implementing such guidelines,” Dr Dengla told mid-day.
The new guidelines were issued by DEPWD on August 1, and will apply only to the competitive exams that lead to jobs and admission to professional courses. The guidelines have not yet been applied to regular school (board)/college/university academic exams.
Aug 1
Day new guidelines were issued
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