Concessions for the differently abled
PU exams
Pre-university students with specific learning disabilities can carry calculators to examination halls and will get an extra hour to write their examinations.
In a circular issued on Wednesday, the State Government clarified that PU students with specific disabilities were entitled to these concessions which hitherto were applicable only up to standard X. The government had offered similar concessions to standard X students with specific learning disabilities in 2008.
Children with dyslexia or other learning disabilities find it difficult to solve mathematical problems and follow more than one language. It is a neurological problem, found roughly in 10 per cent of the school population in the country.
The new circular offers that these students learn only language at the PUC level. The spelling errors they commit in answer scripts will not be taken into account. To avail these concessions, students have to prove they are suffering from learning disabilities.
According to the order, the students will have to obtain certificates from a competent authority to claim the concession. Nimhans in Bangalore, the Malleswaram Dyslexia Association (MDA), Bangalore, and the All India Speech and Hearing Institute in Mysore have been authorised to issue the certificates.
Besides, government hospital psychiatrists and clinical psychiatrists with MPhil degree can also issue certificates. However, documents issued by clinical psychiatrists have to be attested by government doctors who should be no less than the rank of district surgeon.
The PU Board will offer concessions based on recommendations from college heads. The college managements have to send the applications to the board along with the certificates and SSLC marks cards to prove learning disability.
“Examinations are round the corner. Though the government is yet to notify the last date to claim concessions it is better if dyslexic children and their parents approach their respective colleges at the earliest”, said MDA president K S Gopalan. Disabled students keen to know more on availing the concessions may call up 93419-19101.
