MYSURU: Visually-impaired students enrolled for higher studies in the city struggle to find scribes to write exams for them.
Though students get help from their network of visually-impaired seniors and good Samaritans, it can be tough for them at times too as some of them even had to miss their exams as scribes fail to turn up at the last moment.
According to students, it’s up to them to find scribes as colleges do not take responsibility.
“The last time I had arranged for a scribe through our seniors and classmates. However, on the eve of the exam, while I was busy preparing, the scribe said he won’t be able to make it. I had to request people to fill in till late at night,” said Pooja M, a final year BA student of Maharani’s College in the city.
For Pooja, finding a scribe is more difficult than studying.
“Finding a scribe itself is a difficult task since it's not for a single day. We can't complain also since they will have their own engagements," she added.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Shahira Banu, who finished her studies recently, recalled a bitter experience where she had to miss her exams as her scribe did not turn up an hour before her exams.
According to her, to resolve the issue, schools and colleges should take the lead in helping visually-impaired students by providing scribes.
According Punith N, a law student who regularly appears for such students as a scribe, many students come from rural background and they will not have a network of people in the city during their initial years of study, making it difficult for them to find scribes.
Speaking to TNIE, Diwakar, who is visually-impaired, and has been a lifeline for the city’s students, said that colleges which take up the responsibility of getting scribes can be of great help.
He said most institutions are unaware of the guidelines and policies. “The guidelines stipulate that colleges should have a lecturer looking into the issues of the specially-abled. The norm is not followed,” he said.