Earlier this year in March, five visually impaired students appeared for their Class 12 CBSE Open Board examination. Things were going reasonably smooth until they reached their last scheduled exam for History subject.
 The examination center in Civil Lines, New Delhi allegedly denied the students to use their scribes to assist them in writing the said exam. The school apparently couldn’t verify the eligibility of the accompanying scribe as per government guidelines. The students protested and alternatively asked for the examination officer to provide a scribe, which is also a provision stated in the guidelines. But the center officials denied so.
 Afraid of losing a whole academic year, the visually impaired students walked to the nearest police station seeking help. The cops accompanied the students urging the center in-charge to allow these students to write their tests. Under the police pressure the students were allowed in but immediately asked to leave the center as soon as the cops went out of sight.
When these students approached Eyeway for help, the Advocacy officer tried reaching out to the center in-charge multiple times but there was no response. She then appealed with the Controller of Examination (COE) who assured of a fair handling of this matter. The COE has promised to speak to all five visually impaired students to probe the case further and explore the possibility of rectifying their current result which simply says, ‘result awaited’. In the worst case scenario, they can reappear for the History exam in September but that would mean wasting an academic year.
 Often due to lack of clarity and understanding of provisions and guidelines vulnerable student groups like these lose out on their career prospects. There is an imperative need to bridge the gaps in communication between policy issuing authorities, implementing agencies and students.
Team Eyeway