Vague Education Policies Hinder Student Success

Anthony Samuel was born with blindness to a low income family in Kolkata. As a daily wage labourer, his father struggled to provide three square meals. Both Anthony and his younger brother started working at an early age to support the family. This kept them deprived of any formal education.

It was at the age of twenty-eight, when Anthony thought of acquiring some basic education and perhaps an academic degree that could improve his employment prospects. He applied for Class 12 exams through CBSE private mode.

While a majority of blind and visually impaired students pursue education through open schooling under National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), some also choose to do so through CBSE.

Nearing his examination date in January, Anthony was asked to submit his domicile certificate as part of the required documents to get an Admit Card so he could sit for the exams. Unfortunately, his submission was delayed. However, he was allowed to sit for the first exam on February 19. But three days later, he had his second test, and he was denied entry. In another correspondence from the examination body, he was allowed to sit for his Political Science exam on March 22.

This confused messaging and lack of clear guidelines from CBSE resulted in Anthony failing in one exam and unable to clear Class 12. In the absence of a straight and helpful response from the officials, Anthony approached Eyeway. Our Advocacy Officer delved into this case as well as similar complaints from other visually impaired students and reached out to the Controller of Examinations for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

In the one-on-one meeting, CBSE Head seemed dismissive and unempathetic towards the challenges of blind students. He also didn’t fully comprehend the potential and need for opportunities for these students. But after repeated engagement, the Advocacy Officer was able to convince CBSE to clearly state the guidelines on their website. Visually impaired students willing to pursue education from distance learning, are best directed to NIOS as CBSE is in the midst of discontinuing the private/open option.

Team Eyeway