THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The General Education Department has issued orders giving conditional permission to admit visually impaired students in the state’s higher secondary and vocational higher secondary schools.
The order also lays down the admission procedure to be followed for such students by the Directorates of Higher Secondary Education, Vocational Higher Secondary Education and the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
The order came in the wake of a recommendation to this effect by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.Students who seek Plus One admission for science combination, which includes computer science as a subject, should have studied mathematics as a subject in Class X.
Students who have not studied mathematics in Class X are eligible to study humanities or commerce combination that includes computer application as a subject.
The order issued by the General Education Department also asked the Directors of Higher Secondary Education, Vocational Higher Secondary Education and SCERT to make Braille textbooks and audio text books available for such students.
Modern technology should be used in teaching visually impaired students and the service of lab assistant or resource teacher should be ensured during practical examinations. Practical examinations should be conducted in the ‘multiple choice question’ format.
The order states those designated as scribe during the examination should not be the students’ relatives. There should be no insistence the scribe should be a student who studies in a lower class.
Training should be given to all higher secondary teachers on inclusive education. After creating a working model by providing support to teachers in schools where visually impaired students are admitted, the model should be replicated in other schools, the order said.