Give facilities for ‘special’ students from Class I itself

Tweeting about it, State Education Minister Vinod Tawde said that the new GR is focussing on the difficulties faced by special children in exams. “This will certainly help Maharashtra’s differently-abled children,” he said.

The 10-page GR, dated January 8, says that one of the mandates of the Sarva Shikshan Abhiyan is Inclusive Education for Disabled, especially for students who are studying in regular schools. To ensure that special students are able to cope with the regular students, a different pattern of evaluation needs to be adopted for them. A committee had been set up to give recommendations on what facilities should be provided for differently-abled students.

“Until now, facilities were being provided to the students of Class X and Class XII Board exams. But there was no formal GR that would mandate schools to extend the same facilities to students in lower classes. As a result, schools would provide the facilities that they think are necessary. Since there was no uniformity and also owing to the fact that the state education department wants differently-abled students to get opportunities, the decision was taken to implement such facilities from school-level itself,” said Gangadhar Mhamane, chairman of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.

Besides evaluation and exam, the GR also mandates that instead of making it mandatory to chose two languages and four subjects, students be allowed choice of one language and five subjects.

Meanwhile, schools also welcomed the new order. Sulabha Pujari, principal of the Pune Blind School for Girls in Kothrud said it was a good idea. “Introducing some facilities in Class X directly creates some confusion among students. If a student is given a writer right from school level, they will know early how to work with them,” she said.

Principal Atmaram Dhootonde of Ruia School for hearing impaired students also welcomed the decision. “To introduce at primary means strengthening students from lower grades,” he said.