Visually-impaired students in a fix over qualification criterion for scribe
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 28
Kamal Madan, a visually impaired student of Class X is finding it difficult to find a junior student as writer for his board exams. Studying in Government Institute for the Blind (GIB), Panipat, Kamal even travelled up to Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH), Bhiwani, to take a special permission for allowing a senior student as a scribe. But he was turned back, as the Board’s recent notification (dated March 11) says the qualification of the scribe has to be lower than that of the candidate.
“It is not easy to find junior scribes. The exams of Class IX are coinciding with our papers. It would be difficult for them to spare time for us. Similarly, Class XI students are also taking exams. When I told Board officials that Himachal Pradesh (HP) prescribes no qualification rules for the scribes, I was taunted whether I was living in Haryana or HP,” he said.
“No one listens to us in the Board. Last year, this rule came into existence but there were no Board exams due to Covid-19. Before that, there was no qualification criterion for the scribes and we could get anyone to write the paper for us. The new rules have put us at a disadvantage. We are not able to find a junior writing for us,” said Ajay, who is a student of Class XII of GIB, Panipat.
Principal of GIB, Mayank Jain, said that they had recently approached the Board for allowing seniors to write the Board exam for visually-impaired students but they were not allowed. He added that they faced a lot of difficulty in arranging the scribes as due to Covid, parents are not willing to sending their wards to examination centres.
He added, “Some exams of Class IX are coinciding with those of Class X and similarly a few papers of Class XI are on the same day as of Class XII. Though, after making a number of efforts we have arranged the scribes for students.”
The 2013 guidelines of the Centre say that there should not be any fixed criteria of educational qualification for the scribe.
“When the schools do not provide the scribe, the qualification should not be fixed. Haryana Board is not complying with the directions of the Centre. Moreover, the minimum qualification of a scribe should not be less than matriculation,” said Ajai Srivastava, Chairman Umang Foundation, a NGO, in his complaint before the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Haryana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (HSCPCR). He had filed the complaints on the behalf of visually- impaired students.
Srivastava has been fighting for disabled students in HP too. Due to his efforts, Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education issued a notification on March 15 which says that criteria like “educational qualification, marks scored, age or other such restrictions” for scribe should not be fixed and instead invigilation system should be strengthened.
“The Delhi High Court had in its order dated December 4, 2018, ruled that till a panel of scribes has been provided the candidates can continue to appear as per 2013 guidelines. Even the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment endorsed the ruling,” added Srivastava.
However, Chairman of BSEH, Prof Jagbir Singh, said, “The decision on fixing educational qualification rules for the scribe has been taken after deliberations on the complaints received. We are fully cooperating in providing scribes.” The new rules also apply to those suffering from dyslexia, deaf and dumb candidates, and those who are permanently disabled for writing with hands or those suffering from a fracture or dislocation.
He reasoned, “Once, we have found a teacher appearing as a scribe. You cannot expect an invigilator to keep looking at the scribe and the candidate all the time.”
When contacted, Chairman HSCPCR Jyoti Bainda said that they had sought reply from the Board on Srivastava’s complaint.
