25 Apr : In the first of its kind decision, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has come to the rescue of dyslexic children, appearing for competitive examinations. The High Court, in a landmark judgment has allowed one hour’s extra time for each paper, to dyslexic children, appearing for the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
The exam is to be conducted throughout the country tomorrow and the High Court has also suggested CBSE and Central Counselling Board (CCB) to grant similar facilities to all such students appearing for the exam in the entire country.
Pronouncing the order yesterday, while hearing the petition filed by a local resident Pranjay Jain, Justice Permod Kohli observed, “I direct that the petitioner should be provided one hour extra time in AIEEE for each paper. However, this permission shall remain subject to outcome of the writ petition. Mr. Harsh Aggarwal (counsel for CBSE) has expressed his concern about the similarly situated persons who are appearing throughout the country in AIEEE. In this view of the matter, it may be observed that the CCB may consider granting similar facilities to all dyslexic students, who are appearing for AIEEE test”.
Jain, a dyslexic student, had moved court seeking extra time and permission to have a scribe for the competitive exam. While court agreed to award extra time to dyslexic student appearing for AIEEE, the plea to have a scribe was turned down. The court observed, “Since it is the objective test, no scribe is required to be provided to the petitioner. However, in view of the disorder with which the petitioner is suffering, I am of the considered opinion that extra time as per the guidelines framed by the CBSE for 10+2 examination, should be given to the petitioner to provide him a fair opportunity to compete with other students, who don’t suffer from any such disability”.
The petition was filed before the commencement of 10+2 examinations. Considering the plea, the Court passed an order dated March 2, 2010, and directed CBSE to provide scribe who could also make calculations at the instance of the petitioner. Even extra time was allowed to the petitioner in accordance with the rules framed by CBSE for senior secondary examination.
The petitioner again approached the High Court by way of filing an application seeking similar facilities for AIEEE. While CBSE raised various objections to the application, including that the relief claimed in the application is beyond the scope of the writ petition and that there is no condition/ provision in the prospectus issued by the CCB for AIEEE examination.