HSC students with special needs left in a lurch as they wait to hire writers

Lakhs of students will appear for the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination from today, but several face more than just the exam stress. These are students who need writers. Many visually challenged students were struggling for writers till yesterday, while other students with special needs had also crowded the state board's Mumbai Division office in Vashi, seeking help for the same. Even after Education Minister Vinod Tawde boasted about preparing a bank of writers, nothing has been done regarding it. Till Tuesday, several visually-challenged students were circulating messages on social media to find writers.

Kaushal Attal, who was born without sweat glands, had to seek permission from the Board to be allowed to take the exam in a room with air conditioning

"The story is the same for other students with special needs who require writers. Their college or school is not able to provide a writer because students from lower classes are busy with their own exam preparations. Sometimes, even as a writer is found, it does not work out at the last moment. So having a bank of writers will be of great help. All those who want to help can sign up for it," said Nidhi Gosalia from Pearl of Vision, a group of individuals, who try to find writers for students. The group includes individuals who have special needs as well as those who want to help.

"Till Tuesday around 25 visually challenged students had no confirmed writer support. Several messages were circulated on social media to spread the word, and finally everybody found writers by the end of Tuesday," said Nidhi, who feels a centralised process will be more convenient.

Fighting the odds
Many of the students are determined to take the examination and have been facing tough situations courageously. For a resident of Thane, Kaushal Attal, who suffers from hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, which means he has no sweat glands, appearing for the three-hour long examination in a non-air-conditioned room is almost impossible.

"Due to the absence of sweat glands, he does not sweat. His body cannot maintain its temperature if he is in a place where the temperature is high. If the temperature is not controlled, it leads to fever, nose bleeds or fits. So we have sought permission for him to sit in a room where there is an AC at the exam centre," said Rita Attal, Kaushal's mother who was at the state Board's office on Tuesday.

She said, "Kaushal's exam centre is Bandodkar College in Thane. Though they do not have an air-conditioned classroom, they have agreed to make arrangements for him in the office section, provided there is due permission for it from the board. The board officials have given them verbal instructions; we will get a written approval tomorrow." Kaushal was a student of IGCSE board for Std X and went to Arya Cambridge School in Thane where his special condition was taken care of.

Another girl is facing a sudden challenge. Mukta Dange, a resident of Nerul, met with an accident on Sunday while helping her mother with domestic chores, and fractured her right hand. But she was waiting at the state board's Mumbai office on Tuesday, requesting approval for a writer, determined to appear for the examination.

"I have prepared throughout the year for this examination. I cannot miss an entire academic year," said Mukta, a student of Smt. Sushiladevi Deshmukh Vidyalaya and Junior College in Airoli. Her father Anil Dange said, "Her teachers are very supportive. We did not know about this option. But when her teacher got to know about it we approached the state board's office in Vashi."

Barcodes
Pages missing from answer sheets in the Maharashtra State Board examination, won't be a cause of worry any more, thanks to the introduction of a barcode on the answer sheet. The barcode will be printed on every page of the answer sheet as well as the supplement. This is to ensure that if a page does get lose, it won't go missing, and its marks will be added to those for the whole answer sheet. Having observed several instances when pages have gone missing from the main answer sheet, causing loss of marks, the Maharashtra State Board has taken this decision.

The practice will be applicable from the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination that begins today. Other than the unique barcode given to each student for identification, every answer sheet as well as every supplement will have its own barcode. "This barcode will identify the answer sheet or supplement if a page goes missing. It is a new practice adopted to ensure students' convenience," said Krishnakumar Patil, Secretary of the Maharashtra State Board.

Number of students with special needs taking the examination
Visually impaired - 342
Deaf - 215
Mute - 31
Spastic - 285
Dyslexic - 1030

50,325
Number of Arts students appearing for the HSC exam

96,712
No of students from Science who will take the exam

1,78,637
No of students from Commerce appearing for the exam

5,149
No of students from vocational faculty appearing for the exam

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