Children with special needs (CWSN) will have to mention the category of their disability on their answer sheets now. The School and Mass Education Department which has recommended a string of relaxations in examination as well as evaluation for the CWSN has suggested that a special column be provided in the answer sheet’s cover page where the nature of disability can be mentioned.
The writer, who aids the CWSN, will have to mention the category on the cover page of the answer sheet if the candidate is blind, locomotor impaired, autistic or has cerebral palsy.
The Department has also directed that the CWSN and their writers will have to send in their bio-data and declaration form well in advance of the examination so that centre superintendents can make appropriate sitting arrangements on the ground floor as far as possible. In certain cases, special furniture will also be provided so as to meet the postural and seating needs of the candidates.
“To facilitate easy access, a few select schools may be made examination centres for the special students of the high school certificate (HSC) examination,” an order issued by the Department said on Monday.
For students with low vision, question papers with large prints will be supplied. For students of Class I to VIII and Class IX and Class X, funds for this purpose will be sourced from Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan corpus. If necessary, question papers in Braille will be supplied to blind students.
The Department has also suggested use of devices for the students so that they could use calculators, abacus, communication board and pen grips whenever necessary. Similarly, syllabus may be shortened for the CWSN so that they could learn at their own pace.
The assessment procedures will be simplified, mainly consisting of objective type questions instead of elaborate ones. Those who have language acquisition problems will be given multiple choices. The difficulty level of questions for mentally retarded will be in sync with the understanding of the candidate.