No nod needed for scribe to write exam

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 10

The Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC) for People with Disability (PWD) at Panjab University (PU) has clarified that there is no need of prior permission for a scribe accompanying physically-challenged students to write the exam.

“It was a demand from students. I have talked to the Controller of Examinations about it. There is no need of a prior permission for a scribe, but he/she has to bring an identity card along,” said Assistant Professor Sanjeev Gautam, who heads the EOC of the PU. He added: “During the exams, I will remain available on phone so that physically-challenged students do not face any problem.”

The EOC is trying to have a bank of writers.

According to Gautam, as per the letter issued on May 4, the facility of scribe or reader or lab assistant would be allowed to any person who has disability of 40 per cent or more. “The candidates are free to choose their scribe. The criteria such as educational qualification, marks scored, age or other such restrictions for the scribe or reader or lab assistant has not been fixed,” said Gautam.

The invigilation system would be strengthened so that the candidates using scribe do not indulge in malpractices such as copying and cheating during the examination.

According to the instructions, there should also be flexibility in accommodating any change in scribe in the case of emergency.

The candidate would be allowed to check the computer system one day in advance so that the problems, if any, in the software or system could be rectified.

The “compensatory time” allotted to physically-challenged student should not be less than 20 minutes per hour of examination for persons who are taking the help of scribe or reader or lab assistant.

However, if a person is not using the facility of scribe, he or she would be allowed additional time of “minimum of one hour for examination of three-hour duration which can further be increased on case-to-case basis.”

“It is a step in the right direction. Earlier, the letter used to be sent from the department and used to take a lot of time for approval,” said Manish Chauhan, student in the Political Science Department. “Also, sometimes a scribe refuses to come just before the exam. In those cases, you need another person to do the needful. So, these instructions would help in such cases,” he added.