IMPHAL, February 25: The All Tribal Disables’ Union Manipur (ATDUM) has submitted a memorandum to the State Education minister demanding provision of extra time to the differently abled students sitting for their ongoing Class XII examination and upcoming Class X examination conducted by Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur and Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BOSEM) respectively.
A statement of the ATDUM signed by its Momo Tantanga urged the government to take up immediate actions to follow the guidelines and mechanisms issued by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (Department of Disability Affairs), Government of India vide Order No. 16-110/2003-DD.III dated February 26, 2013 for conducting examinations, in a differently abled friendly manner.
The ATDUM is deeply concerned that the State government is yet to implement these guidelines till date, it said.
According to the guidelines, there should be a uniform and comprehensive policy across the country for persons with disabilities for written examinations taking into account improvement in technology and new avenues opened to the persons with disabilities providing a level playing field, it said.
Policy should also have flexibility to accommodate the specific needs on case-to-case basis, it said.
There should also be flexibility in accommodating any change in scribes/readers/lab assistant in case of emergency for the candidates, it said adding that they should also be allowed to take more than one scribe/reader for writing different papers especially for languages.
The differently able persons should be given the options of choosing the mode for taking the examination i.e. in Braille or in the computer or in large print or even by recording the answers as the examining bodies can easily make use of technology to convert Braille text in English or regional languages.
The word “extra time or additional time” that is being currently used should be changed to “compensatory time” and the same should not be less than 20 minutes per hour of examination for persons who are making use of scribe/reader/lab assistants, it said.
The differently abled candidates who are not availing the facility of scribes may be allowed additional time of minimum of one hour for examination of 3 hours duration which could further be increased on a case to case basis, it said.
The candidates should be allowed to use assistive devices like talking calculator (in case where calculators are allowed for giving exams), tailor frame, Braille slate, abacus, geometry kit, Braille measuring tape and augmentative communication devices like communication chart and electronic devices, it said.
Proper seating arrangement (preferably) on the ground floor) should be made prior to the commencement of examination to avoid confusion or distraction during the day of the exam. The time of giving the question papers should be marked accurately and timely supply of supplementary papers should be ensured, it said.
The examining body should also provide reading material in Braille or E-Text or on computers having suitable screen reading software for open book examination, it said. Similarly online examination should be in accessible format in the websites, question papers and all other study material should be accessible as per the international standards laid down in this regard, it said.
The statement also demanded that alternative objective questions in lieu of descriptive questions should be provided for Hearing-Impaired persons, in addition to the existing policy of giving alternative questions in lieu of questions requiring visual inputs, for persons with visual impairment.