Thursday, 23 MAY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Several persons with disabilities (PwD) said that the State government should allocate more resources to assist them rather than simply offering additional time for the physically challenged students in the primary school level examinations. Notably, the State education minister Dhan Singh Rawat had recently stated that the government has sanctioned extra time to be given to the children with benchmark disabilities in the primary school examinations.
Reacting to this, the persons with disabilities The Pioneer spoke to said that this was a small initiative when compared to the huge challenges such people face not just in education but in all spheres of life.
A PwD, who is a student of class X, Vanita Nath said that the state government’s recent announcement is simply a formality to demonstrate that the government is taking action for individuals like her. “However, providing extra time in examinations will not do much. The government should rather focus on the secondary level education and higher studies,” she said.
“The best thing that the government can do for PwDs is to establish a special school for the specially abled students where there should be special educators well-versed with such teaching,” she added.
Another PwD Megha Upadhya said, “I partially welcome the recent initiative of providing extra time during primary examinations by the State government. But the government should not confine itself to this gesture. They should allocate more resources to help them live with dignity. Aside from providing special education, they should improve our access to public transport.”
The National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD) principal Amit Sharma appreciated the recent initiative undertaken by the state government. “However, at the same time, I must say that the focus should be more on secondary level education rather than on primary level. We, therefore, suggest that the government should consider providing extra time to the specially abled students at the secondary level to prepare them for exams,” he said.
