Lack of scribes and audio format lessons hits competitive exam aspirants.

The lockdown has caused a shortage of scribes and audio recordings of study material, leaving many visually challenged students in Tiruchi, especially those attempting competitive exams, in the lurch.

The shift to online classes and widespread closure of college campuses have together created a tough situation for visually challenged aspirants to government and banking exams.

Periyar College M.Phil student R. Sabiulla told The Hindu that it had become difficult to plan lessons without assistance from sighted volunteers.
 

I have been preparing for competitive exams such as TNPC, NET, SET and banking for the past five years. I have attempted Group IV and Group I, and now I am trying banking exams. I was attending TNPC preparatory classes at the District Central Library for the last three Sundays, but the January 9 lockdown has put my study plan in doubt,” said Mr. Sabiulla, 26.

For the moment, he is being helped by his family friends, who read out textbooks that he converts into audio format through the ‘InstaReader’ app.

“Getting a government placement is my ambition, as I feel it will secure my future. But managing both my regular academic work with exam preparation during lockdown is really tough,” he said, adding that he had to give up his exam attempts twice because scribes were unable to come to the venue.
 

I. Abdul Jaffer, one of the prime movers of the Jagadjothi Readers Circle of Visually Challenged reading circle initiative in Tiruchi, said audio recordings had got staggered due to a shortage of young volunteers.

“When we started in 2015, we had at least 150 volunteers, mostly college students, helping us out with creating an audio database of study material and also as exam scribes. But with many campuses closed now, we do not know who to approach for help. We rely on a handful of veteran readers for audio recordings, so what used to be done in a week can now take several months,” said Mr. Jaffer, a visually challenged senior history teacher at a government school in Kattur.

Many visually impaired students had lost touch with regular academics because of these problems. But Mr. Jaffer and a team of tech-savvy people with visual disability have continued to hold online classes during the weekends for blind students.
 

We are using Zoom on our phones for online classes. But we are unable to give them a hands-on experience, so it is still small in scale. For those who cannot afford the devices, we offer the lessons in audio format, saved in a common Google Drive folder,” he added.

Interested volunteers may contact Mr. Jaffer on his mobile number 9443188383.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/campus-closure-takes-a-toll-on-visually-challenged-students/article38234675.ece