News

Volume 7 Issue 4 - February 15, 2010

Only 49 scribes for over 200 dyslexic students

D.N.I.S. News Network, India: Dyslexic students in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) appearing for the 2010 S.S.C. board exams face a terrible predicament! So far, only 49 students have been provided scribes whereas there are over 200 dyslexic students in the state. With the exams barely a month away, two big questions stand out: Will they be able to take the test? And what recourse is the education department taking?

In Hyderabad city, parents are becoming an increasingly worried lot! With the time ticking on, a fear has crept in that their children may have to eventually opt out of the exams if something is not sorted out as soon as possible.

Officials at the Directorate of Government Examinations acknowledge this shortage, yet they seem to take quite a casual approach. “We invited applications from people interested in acting as scribes. But the response was very poor. We got only 49 scribes. We are expecting some more to take up the task,” an official said.

Orkids, a special education consultancy based in the Capital has moved the A.P. High Court against the school education department’s apathy. Preeti Kingi, a volunteer at Orkids echoed her dissatisfaction over the department’s casual attitude saying, “It is the job of the department to find scribes.”

“The search for a scribe by the education department was flawed,” says Farida Raj, a Hyderabad based counselor. “There is no need for only an S.S.C. pass-out to qualify as a scribe,” she further added.

The education department clearly seems to be sitting pretty over the matter while the fate of some 150 odd students hangs in balance.