Chennai: After the Plus-2 results were declared, Raghav S, a student of Anugraha School for Deprived was very enthusiastic about getting into college.
Though living with dyslexia, he wants to pursue higher education in computer science, but a college where he desired to study refused to give him the assistance of a scribe for writing exams.
Raghav is now doubtful about joining the college and pursuing his dreams. The story is not above one Raghav and one college. It’s about the bias that the TN Government seems to show towards students with mental disorders. There are no guidelines for colleges and universities to provide special services for students with Dyslexia, Att-ention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Irlen Syndrome, slow learners and mentally unsound students.
Admissions seem to be a difficult task for many such students, as they are not granted any additional help. Most autonomous colleges and private universities provide scribe only for visually challenged students.
“Students are granted scribe after assessment either by Department of Psychiatry, or by Certified Registration Professionals (CRP) number at Rehabilitation Council of India till they are in school, but there is no such procedure that should be followed by the colleges and universities for aiding such students,” said Harini Mohan, an official at Rehabilitation Council of India.
However, sources in Madras University say that colleges under it need to refer such students to the university and a scribe will be provided. “But no concrete guidelines in the form of an assessment are followed to decide on provision of scribes for MR students, as no guidelines have been laid by the Department of Higher Education,” the official said.
With graduation exams round the corner in some private universities, the students are worried about their performance, due to the non-provision of scribes by respective universities.
