Bengaluru: In order to make schools more inclusive and the in-school experience more pleasant for specially abled students, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning a set of new approaches.
Officials are mulling over including Braille as an independent subject, providing computer-based texts, consideration for attendance and varied difficulty levels for core subjects. These are part of the draft guidelines that are up for discussions among the stakeholders.
According to the draft guidelines the board also envisions taking an online route to disseminate knowledge. Apart from creating online class content for students unable to visit classrooms, provisions will be made to fill out online tests after each session, making evaluation and timely learning easier.
“Attendance requirements in cases of children with severe disabilities like cancer or/and living in remote locations and those with severe physical disabilities can be waived,” the draft noted.
Elaborating on the same, a top CBSE official based in Delhi revealed the recommendations made by stakeholders for the same included introduction of Indian sign language as one among the subjects for learning to replace any other compulsory language.
“Students who are specially-abled with respect to speaking and listening skills shall be equipped with the Indian sign language as it helps them in communicating better over their formative years. Recommendations were made while drafting the policy as the predominant sign language used in South Asia would hold equal weightage of how a new language is taught to other students,” said the official.
The Board also claims that invitees from different verticals of the education system from over 20 boards, representatives of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Ministry of Social Justice,
Rehabilitation Counsil of India and leading non-governmental organizations in the field got together to deliberate on suggestions before drafting the new policy guidelines.
“These and more inclusive plans in the pipeline would come into effect soon after a green signal is given by top decision makers in the Ministry of Human Resource Development,” the CBSE official said.
