Re: [AI] SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU
Hello All, Appropriate step at the very right time. Commendable job! Now we should make sure that it reaches to its logical conclusion. Keep informing the group about future development. Also post the case No., It will help the group to track the latest development. All the support from my side as well! On 5/4/13, Vikas Gupta vikas...@gmail.com wrote: Though all these three reports are good, the best reproduction of Sambhavana's press release may be seen in the Indian Express, which is closest to our perspective. I have not gone through other media reports so far. Though some news channels had also called me yesterday, I am not aware how did they cary it. Friends, let us use this oppertunity to not merely fight against the discriminatory provisions of four year undergraduate digree programme of Delhi University, but more specifically, let us strugggle to ensure that our needs and requirements are kept at the centerstage of any planning. I remember when I was a member of EOC in Delhi University, we had prepared a long list of books that visually challenged students would need to study for different courses. This list of course excluded many disciplines, however, whatever we had suggested, only a fracction of those books have been so far converted in acccessible formats. Still University is almost every year renewing its syllabuses without ever bothering to ensure that before introducing a new programme, it should also make adequit arrangements for protecting equal rights of disabled. Best Vikas On 5/4/13, Nikhil Jain ni...@rediffmail.com wrote: Dear Friends, First of all, let me thank all who have been constantly supporting the efforts of Sambhavana in striving for an inclusive and democratic society. I am sharing with you some of the meedia report that I could lay my hand to. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Disabled-teachers-students-move-HC-against-4-year-degree/articleshow/19875119.cms http://www.indianexpress.com/news/challenged-students-oppose-du-s-4yr-format/162/ http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/NGO-files-PIL-against-DU-s-four-year-programme/Article1-1054462.aspx Apart from that, it is also covered in Deckan Herald, Millenium Post and one or two Hindi news papers. Thanks. Nikhil On Fri, 03 May 2013 21:19:02 +0530 wrote Nishant and others at Sambhavana! This is a very relevant issue as most plannings by the public bodies/ educational institutions/ government are continuously undertaken without considering the persons with disabilities and their specific needs. We have faced this problem in the past. When ever the CBSE/ SCERT/ NCERT etc change the courses or bring out revised editions, the diversity of students get left out. The authorities forget about the Braille and digital versions. Availability of accessible study material is a primary requirement to ensure equality of opportunities for persons with disabilities.If the course has not yet been decided before the launch of the 4 years hybrid course, one can well imagine the preparation of the university to launch this course in its true inclusive way. Good move and you have all the support from me. regards Subhash C. Vashishth Advocate On 3 May 2013 17:30, Nishant Kumar Jindal wrote: PRESS RELEASE Ref.Sam/2013/127 Dated: 03/05/2013 SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU Sambhavana, the leading organization of disabled teachers and students in Delhi, has filed a writ petition in the honorable High Court requesting a stay order against implementation of the discriminatory four year under-graduation programme, FYUP. It claims that the present design of FYUP is discriminatory as the programme does not take in to consideration the aspirations and specific needs of the students with blindness and other print-disabilities. Sambhavana organization strongly believes that in case the four year under graduate programme is introduced in its present form the student with Vision Impairment will suffer irreparable loss and a large number of such students will get excluded from the proposed benefits of this programme. Sambhavana objects the implementation of the proposed FYUP mainly on the following grounds: Problem Arising due to the Imposition of Compulsory Interdisciplinarity on Students In the name of interdisciplinarity, this programme requires students to study foundation courses from multiple streams. Two of the eleven foundation courses (to be studied over first two semesters) would be on Mathematics and Science. In most cases, blind or visually impaired students are discouraged or practically barred/disallowed from taking Science and
Re: [AI] SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU
Nishant and others at Sambhavana! This is a very relevant issue as most plannings by the public bodies/ educational institutions/ government are continuously undertaken without considering the persons with disabilities and their specific needs. We have faced this problem in the past. When ever the CBSE/ SCERT/ NCERT etc change the courses or bring out revised editions, the diversity of students get left out. The authorities forget about the Braille and digital versions. Availability of accessible study material is a primary requirement to ensure equality of opportunities for persons with disabilities.If the course has not yet been decided before the launch of the 4 years hybrid course, one can well imagine the preparation of the university to launch this course in its true inclusive way. Good move and you have all the support from me. regards Subhash C. Vashishth Advocate On 3 May 2013 17:30, Nishant Kumar Jindal nkjindal1...@gmail.com wrote: PRESS RELEASE Ref.Sam/2013/127 Dated: 03/05/2013 SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU Sambhavana, the leading organization of disabled teachers and students in Delhi, has filed a writ petition in the honorable High Court requesting a stay order against implementation of the discriminatory four year under-graduation programme, FYUP. It claims that the present design of FYUP is discriminatory as the programme does not take in to consideration the aspirations and specific needs of the students with blindness and other print-disabilities. Sambhavana organization strongly believes that in case the four year under graduate programme is introduced in its present form the student with Vision Impairment will suffer irreparable loss and a large number of such students will get excluded from the proposed benefits of this programme. Sambhavana objects the implementation of the proposed FYUP mainly on the following grounds: Problem Arising due to the Imposition of Compulsory Interdisciplinarity on Students In the name of interdisciplinarity, this programme requires students to study foundation courses from multiple streams. Two of the eleven foundation courses (to be studied over first two semesters) would be on Mathematics and Science. In most cases, blind or visually impaired students are discouraged or practically barred/disallowed from taking Science and Mathematics after 8th standard. Sambhavana Organization argues that DU, just like most of schools in Delhi or in the country, have not made adequate arrangements for teaching blind students Mathematics and Science. In the present system at Delhi University, not studying Maths and Science after 8th standard did not harm at least the immediate academic prospects of a blind student. Yet, the FYUP makes it compulsory for all the students to study courses that require prior knowledge of Science and Mathematics. The university has two options in this case. Either DU can exempt vision impaired students from studying courses that require knowledge of Science and Mathematics. Or it can tell those students to look for some other university. In either case DU would be treating people with visual disabilities as second class students in complete violation of their fundamental and other legislative rights of equal participation. Unavailability of Accessible Reading Material It has been a constant problem for students with vision impairment to get hold of reading material for their studies in accessible formats, such as Braille, E-texts, large text or audio recording. As far as the existing courses are concerned, at least some reading material in accessible formats have been accumulated over the years as a result of various individual and organizational initiatives, which is of course merely a fraction of the total number of texts prescribed . Yet, when it comes to the FYUP nobody is still sure what form the courses will take. For many of the courses there is no syllabus approved by the statutory bodies thus far. Even if the syllabi are ready in the month of May, it will take some time to print the texts and other reading materials for vision impaired students in accessible formats. By any means, this task cannot be achieved overnight. At least a year of systematic planning and efforts is needed. Sambhavana Organization believes that in the light of DU’s tendency of having no dialogue despite series of representations and protests by disabled students and teachers over last many months against the blatant disregard of various provisions as enshrined in the laws for disabled, it is very less likely that without intervention of judiciary, University would pay appropriate attention to protect legal rights of such students. Demands Sambhavana Organization demands from DU to have dialogue with Disabled Students and Teachers which is enshrined in the PWD Act and the UNCRPD, before
Re: [AI] SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU
Dear Friends, First of all, let me thank all who have been constantly supporting the efforts of Sambhavana in striving for an inclusive and democratic society. I am sharing with you some of the meedia report that I could lay my hand to. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Disabled-teachers-students-move-HC-against-4-year-degree/articleshow/19875119.cms http://www.indianexpress.com/news/challenged-students-oppose-du-s-4yr-format/162/ http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/NGO-files-PIL-against-DU-s-four-year-programme/Article1-1054462.aspx Apart from that, it is also covered in Deckan Herald, Millenium Post and one or two Hindi news papers. Thanks. Nikhil On Fri, 03 May 2013 21:19:02 +0530 wrote Nishant and others at Sambhavana! This is a very relevant issue as most plannings by the public bodies/ educational institutions/ government are continuously undertaken without considering the persons with disabilities and their specific needs. We have faced this problem in the past. When ever the CBSE/ SCERT/ NCERT etc change the courses or bring out revised editions, the diversity of students get left out. The authorities forget about the Braille and digital versions. Availability of accessible study material is a primary requirement to ensure equality of opportunities for persons with disabilities.If the course has not yet been decided before the launch of the 4 years hybrid course, one can well imagine the preparation of the university to launch this course in its true inclusive way. Good move and you have all the support from me. regards Subhash C. Vashishth Advocate On 3 May 2013 17:30, Nishant Kumar Jindal wrote: PRESS RELEASE Ref.Sam/2013/127 Dated: 03/05/2013 SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU Sambhavana, the leading organization of disabled teachers and students in Delhi, has filed a writ petition in the honorable High Court requesting a stay order against implementation of the discriminatory four year under-graduation programme, FYUP. It claims that the present design of FYUP is discriminatory as the programme does not take in to consideration the aspirations and specific needs of the students with blindness and other print-disabilities. Sambhavana organization strongly believes that in case the four year under graduate programme is introduced in its present form the student with Vision Impairment will suffer irreparable loss and a large number of such students will get excluded from the proposed benefits of this programme. Sambhavana objects the implementation of the proposed FYUP mainly on the following grounds: Problem Arising due to the Imposition of Compulsory Interdisciplinarity on Students In the name of interdisciplinarity, this programme requires students to study foundation courses from multiple streams. Two of the eleven foundation courses (to be studied over first two semesters) would be on Mathematics and Science. In most cases, blind or visually impaired students are discouraged or practically barred/disallowed from taking Science and Mathematics after 8th standard. Sambhavana Organization argues that DU, just like most of schools in Delhi or in the country, have not made adequate arrangements for teaching blind students Mathematics and Science. In the present system at Delhi University, not studying Maths and Science after 8th standard did not harm at least the immediate academic prospects of a blind student. Yet, the FYUP makes it compulsory for all the students to study courses that require prior knowledge of Science and Mathematics. The university has two options in this case. Either DU can exempt vision impaired students from studying courses that require knowledge of Science and Mathematics. Or it can tell those students to look for some other university. In either case DU would be treating people with visual disabilities as second class students in complete violation of their fundamental and other legislative rights of equal participation. Unavailability of Accessible Reading Material It has been a constant problem for students with vision impairment to get hold of reading material for their studies in accessible formats, such as Braille, E-texts, large text or audio recording. As far as the existing courses are concerned, at least some reading material in accessible formats have been accumulated over the years as a result of various individual and organizational initiatives, which is of course merely a fraction of the total number of texts prescribed . Yet, when it comes to the FYUP nobody is still sure what form the courses will take. For
Re: [AI] SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU
Though all these three reports are good, the best reproduction of Sambhavana's press release may be seen in the Indian Express, which is closest to our perspective. I have not gone through other media reports so far. Though some news channels had also called me yesterday, I am not aware how did they cary it. Friends, let us use this oppertunity to not merely fight against the discriminatory provisions of four year undergraduate digree programme of Delhi University, but more specifically, let us strugggle to ensure that our needs and requirements are kept at the centerstage of any planning. I remember when I was a member of EOC in Delhi University, we had prepared a long list of books that visually challenged students would need to study for different courses. This list of course excluded many disciplines, however, whatever we had suggested, only a fracction of those books have been so far converted in acccessible formats. Still University is almost every year renewing its syllabuses without ever bothering to ensure that before introducing a new programme, it should also make adequit arrangements for protecting equal rights of disabled. Best Vikas On 5/4/13, Nikhil Jain ni...@rediffmail.com wrote: Dear Friends, First of all, let me thank all who have been constantly supporting the efforts of Sambhavana in striving for an inclusive and democratic society. I am sharing with you some of the meedia report that I could lay my hand to. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Disabled-teachers-students-move-HC-against-4-year-degree/articleshow/19875119.cms http://www.indianexpress.com/news/challenged-students-oppose-du-s-4yr-format/162/ http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/NGO-files-PIL-against-DU-s-four-year-programme/Article1-1054462.aspx Apart from that, it is also covered in Deckan Herald, Millenium Post and one or two Hindi news papers. Thanks. Nikhil On Fri, 03 May 2013 21:19:02 +0530 wrote Nishant and others at Sambhavana! This is a very relevant issue as most plannings by the public bodies/ educational institutions/ government are continuously undertaken without considering the persons with disabilities and their specific needs. We have faced this problem in the past. When ever the CBSE/ SCERT/ NCERT etc change the courses or bring out revised editions, the diversity of students get left out. The authorities forget about the Braille and digital versions. Availability of accessible study material is a primary requirement to ensure equality of opportunities for persons with disabilities.If the course has not yet been decided before the launch of the 4 years hybrid course, one can well imagine the preparation of the university to launch this course in its true inclusive way. Good move and you have all the support from me. regards Subhash C. Vashishth Advocate On 3 May 2013 17:30, Nishant Kumar Jindal wrote: PRESS RELEASE Ref.Sam/2013/127 Dated: 03/05/2013 SAMBHAVANA ORGANIZATION FILES A PIL Demanding Stay on the PROPOSED FOUR YEAR UNDER-GRADUATE PROGRAMME of DU Sambhavana, the leading organization of disabled teachers and students in Delhi, has filed a writ petition in the honorable High Court requesting a stay order against implementation of the discriminatory four year under-graduation programme, FYUP. It claims that the present design of FYUP is discriminatory as the programme does not take in to consideration the aspirations and specific needs of the students with blindness and other print-disabilities. Sambhavana organization strongly believes that in case the four year under graduate programme is introduced in its present form the student with Vision Impairment will suffer irreparable loss and a large number of such students will get excluded from the proposed benefits of this programme. Sambhavana objects the implementation of the proposed FYUP mainly on the following grounds: Problem Arising due to the Imposition of Compulsory Interdisciplinarity on Students In the name of interdisciplinarity, this programme requires students to study foundation courses from multiple streams. Two of the eleven foundation courses (to be studied over first two semesters) would be on Mathematics and Science. In most cases, blind or visually impaired students are discouraged or practically barred/disallowed from taking Science and Mathematics after 8th standard. Sambhavana Organization argues that DU, just like most of schools in Delhi or in the country, have not made adequate arrangements for teaching blind students Mathematics and Science. In the present system at Delhi University, not studying Maths and Science after 8th standard did not harm at least the immediate academic prospects of a
