Thiruvananthapuram: The higher secondary directorate has assured the Child Rights Commission that it will bring changes in the curriculum to ensure that visually challenged students are not discriminated against during admissions to higher secondary courses.
This newspaper had reported on June 3 about the harassment meted out to a visually challenged student, Prajina Krishnan from Kasargod, during the admission counselling for disabled students for Plus-One courses. Prajna, who scored seven ‘A-plus’ in SSLC, was forced to sign an affidavit by the admission counsellor saying that she would not seek any assistance to study the subjects and do laboratory practical before she was given admission.
The higher secondary directorate, during the sitting of the commission the other day, had assured that the curriculum committee would meet soon to finalise the changes. Child Rights Commission member N. Babu told this newspaper that the officials assured that the curriculum committee would take steps to modify the practical rules for the visually challenged students.
The modification would be on the lines of CBSE and ISC which allowed visually impaired students to answer objective-type questions for practical using a scribe as they do for secondary examinations. For this, they have to provide questions digitally, Mr Babu said.
Mr Ram Kamal, mentor of Chakshumathi, an NGO which promotes science education among the visually challenged, said that the curriculum committee should take a decision early to ensure that scribes are allowed in practical examinations before the next examinations.
