After a group of parents complained that the National Institute of Open Schooling board had denied writers to their children with learning disabilities during exams, the Bombay high court has directed the NIOS to allow them writers after verifying their certification from the appropriate authority.
After a group of parents complained that the National Institute of Open Schooling board had denied writers to their children with learning disabilities during exams, the Bombay high court has directed the NIOS to allow them writers after verifying their certification from the appropriate authority.
The court also directed the education and health departments, as well as schools, to create awareness programmes to help teachers identify students with learning disabilities, as early as when they are eight, to ensure that proper facilities are given to them during exams.
A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice Girish Kulkarni was informed that centres which provide disability certificates are very few. The bench then directed the state to have at least one centre in each district. The court gave the directions while hearing a suo-moto petition after it received a letter by mental health professionals, Drs Harish Shetty and Sanghnaik Meshram, highlighting the difficulties faced by these students if they are not provided writers. Hundreds of students with learning disability were denied writers by NIOS for their upcomingStds X and XII exams. The doctors had attached copies of news reports, including the one featured in dna, with their letter written on March 30. Accordingly, the court had issued notices to the head of learning disability in the department of psychiatry in Lokmanya Tilak (Sion) and Nair hospitals as respondents in the suo moto petition apart from NIOS and union government.The letter has sought that direction be issued to the regional director of NIOS that "student with learning disability be permitted to have the assistance of writers for Std X and XII exams commencing from April 10."
They have also sought that action be initiated against the regional director, NIOS, Pune, for violating child rights ny denying the kids writers, something that has happened only this year. The same batch of students who appeared in April 2014 and October 2014 were provided with writers, adds the letter.The children are certified by competent medical authorities as prescribed by the Disabilities Act and NIOS board. "The Disability Act and NIOS bye-law 12.2 clearly provides for writer facility toclassified students," states the letter. Stating that the decision has jeopardised the students' rights, the letter adds that "the parents and students are under tremendous stress and trauma due to nonconfirmation of writer facility" as the students are not in a position to write theory paper physically due to their disability even with extended time".The parents had initially approached the state commission for protection of child rights. The Forum for Autism had also come to their support and written a letter to the NIOS.
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