Call for dedicated scribe bank as Board exams begin

Sharon Rachel Aby’s experience of appearing for Class X CBSE Board examinations last year was largely stress-free for two reasons. One, she is academically bright; and two, her school found a junior who was ready to scribe for her in all the six subjects she was taking exams in.

Sharon has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare degenerative disease that restricts hand movement, which means she debilitatingly slow-paced in her writing speed. At Spartan Exclusive School in Mogappair where she studied, she found Akshith of Class IX to scribe for her, and ensured they both had two to three sessions prior to the examinations to understand each other. Sharon scored 92.2% with a centum in French.

For some, finding a scribe can be a straightforward process, but for many students with disabilities it is a stressful experience, often one that causes them to depend on NGOs and personal networks.

School boards such as Indian Certificate of Secondary Education and Central Board of Secondary Education insist that the candidate can use their discretion in either opting for their own scribe/ reader or requesting the examination centre to provide one. They also insist that the qualification of the scribe be one step below the qualification of the candidate taking the examination.

The rules are different in the School Education Department of Tamil Nadu. Government school teachers are selected by the District Education Office to volunteer as scribes for Class X and XII Board examinations. Earlier, it had planned to appoint interested BEd students and Illam Thedi Kalvi volunteers, but that GO was dropped on February 19 after many disability groups objected to limited time in taking up this exercise.

In many cases, candidates who are homeschooled or writing exams through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) have to fend for themselves when it comes to finding a scribe.

E.G. Manikandan, a senior special educator with more than 17 years of experience, helps students with NIOS registration including arranging for scribes. He reaches out to private schools well in advance to help identify student volunteers who then have to go through a scribbing orientation exercise. He says NIOS allows parents to act as scribes provided they are registered and meet certain criteria.

“But the challenge is when the parents are not educated and one has to find a suitable volunteer for scribbing,” he says, adding that a CBSE school in Mylapore sent him five students last year to scribe.

Having a pool of scribes who can work with students with varying disabilities, including communication-related problems, will go a long way in creating a more empathetic society and it is within the school system that this can be effectively nurtured.

Inclusive schools

“Finding a scribe in an inclusive set-up is easy, and most schools where we work play an important role in promoting inclusion. For instance, at Little Flower School in Kundrathur, announcement is made during the assembly inviting children to volunteer as scribes. They also give certificates to encourage such students,” says Kalpana Kumar, founder, Kare Therapy Centre.

For students applying to study aboard, she says, mention of any volunteering stint as a scribe or efforts to promote inclusion is a bonus and many schools they work with push this agenda to their students, says Kalpana.

A pool of scribes

For many years now, V. Sivaraman, an associate professor at Presidency College, has been asking the office of the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities to initiate the creation of a common portal for scribes and students. As most colleges have examinations at the same time, depending on students as volunteer-scribes is not always a reliable option. Sometimes, a volunteer would not want to come every day. Though there are many volunteer groups helping find scribes, the professor thinks a portal from the government that lists the needs of the visually challenged and availability of volunteers would be more sustainable.