I do not think the writer means any offence neither do I think she is trying to demean blind and visually impaired people. The very fact that she is volunteering or investing her time in being a scribe implies that she believes in the blind and visually impaired people. What she has written is not fiction. This has been happening and not just one or two stray instance but quite commonly. Let us not get into the ostritch syndrome and stick our heads in the sand. She in her piece is simply pointing our attention to certain ground realities. I think we need to take on board these realities as we move forward with planning our systems and policies. I also agree to the fact that the abuse of systems and facilities by some of the blind people brings a bad reputation to the entire group. Further this has negative impact on the understanding and attitude of people towards blind people. Our approach should be to address the abuse rather than being critical of the messenger.
-----Original Message----- From: AccessIndia [mailto:accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in] On Behalf Of avinash shahi Sent: 17 March 2015 16:23 To: AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues concerning the disabled. Subject: Re: [AI] 2 Better Than 1? Being A Scribe For A Visually Impaired - Akanksha Mittal. This writer seems to me is obsessed with illusive competence Though I defend her right to express what she experienced, however she has unwillingly hurt the sentiments of millions of blind who lack means to learn computers. in her words, She may have done 'philanthropy' by writing somebody's exam, but her herling of bombshell on examinees such as 'cajole' and 'emotional-blackmaling' is very disturbing. She has also negated the importance of reservation for PWDs which is against the constitutional principle of "treating equal equally and unequal unequally". She should know that questionpapers are supposed to be provided in Braille to blind people if they desire, but do government ensure? She should reflect on questions why blind people are compelled to give exams in print? why not in their own desired mode? She should read Miranda Tomkonson judgment and MSJE Scribe guidelines which forced UGC to provide NET questionpapers in Braille. On 3/16/15, bala9119 <bala9...@gmail.com> wrote: > They say experience is the best teacher. And two experiences then are > better teachers, I guess. So here are two such experiences that gave > me two entirely different perspectives, yet zeroing down to perhaps > just one conclusion. The Staff Selection Commission conducts > examinations for graduates and post graduates for various government > posts, apart from UPSC and DSSSB. Examinations for the posts that can > be taken up by Visually Impaired Students have the provision of > Scribes to make the examination smooth and accessible to the students. > Keeping aside the whole debatable concept of "posts that can be taken > up by the Visually Impaired", here I am going to discuss two such > instances when I became a Scribe for a few Visually Impaired persons > appearing for the SSC Examinations. > > > > During my first attempt at writing the paper for a visually impaired > person, I went through three hours of emotional blackmailing by the > candidate trying to cajole me into filling up the answers for him > through my knowledge. I was caught in an ugly position where in the > name of philanthropy I was actually cheating with the consent of the > system! There are mathematical questions that a student with visual > impairment has to answer which perhaps cannot be solved without using > aids such as an Abacus or a Calculator. Having been accustomed to > using the Abacus, two of the candidates I wrote the exam for found it > difficult to calculate on their fingertips. > > Further, repeating the questions thrice and asking them to repeat > their choice of answers umpteen times leads to wasteful use of time. > In that sense, even the provision of extra time of 20-40 minutes for > the visually impaired students is sometimes not enough and sometimes > not legitimate. If the scribe is honestly not doing the candidate's > paper then the former applies and if the scribe is "helping" the > candidate with his answers then the latter. > > To err is human. And having to bear the brunt of someone else's > mistake in something that perhaps decides your mode of earning a > livelihood is exploitative. The visually impaired student places a lot > of trust in the scribe who is marking his/her answers and is perhaps > never going to be able to find out what went wrong if his scribes just > could not answer the same way the candidate wants him/her to. Who is > to blame? > > The second experience pointed to the inefficiency of the examination > system further. The scribes are paid a remuneration of Rs. 500 by the > Government for being present at the examination centre during all the > shifts in which the exams are conducted on a single day. Whether a > scribe actually writes an exam for a candidate or not is not the > concern. So technically, you can just plan a get together with your > friends one pleasant Sunday afternoon, decide to mark your attendance > as a scribe during the morning and afternoon sessions and get paid for > just two signatures and catching up with your friends. And that is > exactly what I saw a group of people doing there who were selected as > scribes without any preliminary screening apart from meeting the > minimum requirement of being a class 12 graduate. > > What happens on rainy days when the candidates do not appear for the > examination but the scribes do? The government pays a handsome amount > to people for no work done by them. One such rainy day was the second > time I decided to write the examination for a visually impaired, when > most candidates missed their exam owing to the rain. > > There is no denying that the government spends money in trying to make > the exams more accessible to candidates with special needs. How much > of this expenditure actually benefits them is the question. It would > perhaps do some good if the government spent the same amount of money > in providing the candidates with computers that would read out the > question papers to the candidates who can then mark the answers with > their own hand. Various countries like Spain actually use such an > approach towards examinations. > > Providing reservations to candidates with special needs is not the > solution. Giving them equal opportunity to perform to the best of > their capability is what is needed. In the words of an invigilator at > the SSC examination, "Getting jobs through the 3% reservation for > people with disabilities might succeed at giving them a livelihood, > but they are sometimes more a liability to the government offices than > assets". > > There is no denying that every person has the capability to perform > like any other. All that we need is an equal opportunity to do that, > which the current examination structure does not succeed in providing. > Directing the expenditure towards the development of better > infrastructure would perhaps be a more intelligent choice than just > spending it because you believe you have so much of it! > > Source: > http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2011/08/two-better-than-one-being-a-scribe-for- a-visually-impaired-in-an-exam/ > -- > "It doesn't matter what we have, but it really matters what we do with > what we have." > > With Sincere Regards > > Balanagendran. D > IAS Aspirant > Skype: balanagendran > Twitter: > http://twitter.com/balanagendran89 > > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessin dia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessin dia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
