‘Spare visually challenged of DU open book examination’

Over 70 students, teachers, research scholars and NGO activists raised concerns over the ability of visually challenged students to take part in the proposed online examinations, in a joint letter to the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor last week.

The major grievance was that they did not have accessible reading material, the letter stated. “Apart from accessing the reading through audio recordings and Braille, many of them also rely on e-text, which they could listen and read through the use of screen reading programmes,” it read.

But as things stand, such material had not been made available by teachers, with many sending handwritten notes through online cloud platforms.

The signatories highlighted that while availability of qualified volunteers to act as scribes and assist visually challenged students was often challenging in a city such as Delhi, it would be especially difficult to arrange in the rural parts of the country.

It also pointed out that many students did not have access to laptops, screen reading apps and proper Net connection.