Yogender Singh is a BA final year student of Delhi University (DU). Visually impaired since the age of two, pursuing his dream of education hasn’t been easy.

He was on a short break in his hometown Moradabad, UP, when the nationwide lockdown was announced in March. Yogender was oblivious of the challenges he would face in the coming months.

With colleges shut, all classes were cancelled and examinations postponed. In May, DU notified new dates for final year assessments to be conducted via Open Book Examination (OBE). This involves logging in to a web portal, downloading the question paper and keying in the answers on paper or on the computer, and finally submitting the exam paper online.

Colleges also organized some online sessions to help students prepare. But lack of access to computer or internet put Yogender at a disadvantage.

His attempts at arranging a scribe have also been unsuccessful given the social distancing guidelines. Left with no choice, he is considering traveling to Delhi amid rising Covid numbers.

As per DU notification ICT infrastructure facilities can be availed at the government owned Common Services Centres (CSCs) across India. But most students are either unaware or unclear of the provision. Also all CSCs don’t have screen reader enabled computers for the visually impaired.

Will Yogender’s pursuit of education and gainful employment come to a screeching halt? Did the Delhi University consider the problems visually impaired students stuck in various parts of the country would face vis-à-vis access to study material, required infrastructure or assistance? Does the varsity’s responsibility end with issuing a bunch of guidelines?

Team Eyeway