Disabled students shine in C.B.S.E. examinations
Students with disability have excelled in this year�s C.B.S.E. examinations. Dorodi Sharma of D.N.I.S.
takes a look at the results to find out if it is just a small step
towards inclusive education or a sign of growing understanding of the
education system towards students with disability.
Anuj Goel always had his sight set on a seat in S.R.C.C. And he is
more than sure of getting one. This boy from Delhi�s Rajkiya Pratibha
Vikas Vidyalaya, Shalimar Bagh has scored 96.7 percent in his class XII
exams.
Anuj suffers from a high degree of myopia and nystagmus. But that did
not stop him from topping among Delhi�s government schools and also
among the 1,034 disabled students who took the exams this year.
Anuj is not the only disabled student who excelled in this year�s
examinations. He has a few more for company. 1,683 students had
appeared in the special category this year, of which 1,097 were boys and
601 were girls. Their pass percentage was 90.08 percent with Chennai
topping the list with a pass percentage of 95.63 percent. 952 students
with disability scored above 60 percent, of which 38 scored 90 percent
and above.
Do these results point towards a growing sensitivity of the education system towards the needs of disabled students?
Anuj says there is a better understanding about it than before.
�My school, teachers and friends were very co-operative. I could not see
the black board even from the first row, so my friends helped me in
taking notes in class. I never faced any discrimination because of my
disability�, he said.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (C.B.S.E.) had made quite a few
provisions for disabled students appearing for the examinations. This
included special provisions for visually impaired students, who could
write their examinations at 14 centres, specially allotted for them.
Students were also allowed the use of a writer chosen by the Centre
Superintendent of the examination.
As per the new set of rules, the special category students were also
given an hour of extra time for a paper which is originally of three
hours duration, 50 minutes for a paper of 2.5 hours duration, 40 minutes
for papers of two hours duration and 30 minutes of extra time for
papers of 1.5 hours duration.
Besides these, the Board also facilitated an alternate question paper
for such candidates, which had visual inputs in the English
Communicative and Social Science papers for Class X and History,
Geography, Economics and Political Science for Class XI.
Also, there were separate question papers in enlarged prints for mathematics and science in the Class X examination.
Students with visual impairment in Delhi were also provided the facility of computer or typewriter for giving examinations.
Most of the students who excelled were from metros and also from private
schools. Does that mean government run schools are not conducive for
disabled students?
Not if we are to agree with Anuj, who says that it is a common notion that government run schools do not have proper facilities.
�I cannot say about all schools but this is definitely not true about my
school. It provided me with all the facilities that I needed.�
The results this year have given hope to hundreds of students with
disability in the country. It also marks a changing attitude of the
Indian education system towards the need of students with disability.
But there is a disturbing fact which undermines the results. Every year
more than 1000 students appear in the disabled category. Delhi
University has around 1500 seats reserved for students with disability.
But every year more than 1000 seats remain vacant. The C.B.S.E. results
may have opened newer avenues for students with disabilities but this is
just a small step towards a greater vision of inclusive education - a
vision that needs much more than this to become a reality.
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