NEW DELHI: The largest number of disabled candidates appearing for classes X and XII evaluation under Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is from Delhi. The state-wise count of students with disabilities, released by the Board recently, also showed that the number of differently-abled students appearing for evaluation has been rising steadily. A total of 743 candidates appeared in Class X exam in 2009 in Delhi and more than double the figure appeared in 2014. 

There were no registrations of autistic students in Class X from 2009 to 2013 from Delhi, but there were five in 2014. Similarly, numbers of students with visual impairment or dyslexia have also increased significantly over the six years — from 214 to 403 in case of blind students and from 93 to 423 in case of those with dyslexia. For the Class XII exam, the biggest jump was in case of orthopedically-challenged students. CBSE categorizes them as "handicapped". In 2009, 272 mobility-impaired candidates from Delhi appeared for Class XII evaluations; the figure rose to 524 in 2014. The number of hearing-impaired students jumped from 25 in 2009 to 130 in 2014. 



One of the reasons for the huge difference between Delhi and runners-up Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh is that in Delhi majority of schools are CBSE-affiliated. There is no state board and government schools too come under CBSE.

"Inclusive education is strong in Delhi," George Abraham of NGO Score Foundation said adding, "There are more visually-challenged students in mainstream schools in Delhi than in any other place in the country. It also depends on the support services, availability of reading material and trained teachers. Delhi is more education-friendly, more aware," he said. "Even CBSE is good at handling things here as regional officers are always well-equipped." He recalled the case of a student in Surat who was not allowed to use a computer to write his exam. "They were telling him to go to Ajmer. We managed it, but regional offices are not necessarily in sync with the headquarters." 



Madhumita Puri of Society for Child Development, Delhi, said most of the students who have been successfully appearing for these exams are either from private schools or from National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has helped and so has stricter implementation of 3% reservation in jobs," Puri said, "The well-to-do always send their disabled children to school. Now, poor parents too have been making an effort." 

In case of Delhi, the number of students, who appeared for CBSE evaluation in Class X, is close to the number appearing in Class XII two years later. 



A total of 743 students appeared in Class X evaluation in 2009 and 741 appeared in Class XII exam in 2011. Either the attrition rate is low with those completing Class X choosing to remain in school, or students from other states, where there is a dip in number, are moving in to Delhi. Puri said, "There is a huge migration of visually-impaired students into Delhi, but very little in the other categories." 


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Most-disabled-kids-in-CBSE-exam-from-Delhi/movie-review/45754604.cms