SCPD court passes order over alleged harassment of student with disabilities during exam

Dimapur, Sep. 2 (EMN): The Court of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD) has directed the regional director, National Institute of Open School (NIOS), to conduct training and sensitisation programmes for staff members, especially the centre superintendents and invigilators, to ensure that students with disabilities are not subjected to discrimination or harassment during examinations.

The court, in an update, informed that the principal of Deaf Biblical Ministry, School for the Deaf, Dimapur, had filed a complaint in the court of the SCPD stating that one of her students with hearing impairment, faced discrimination at the examination centre while appearing her secondary examination through the NIOS on April 23, 2022.

State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Diethono Nakhro, in an order, stated that “the incident reflects upon the ignorance of the centre superintendent and invigilator and because of which the students with hearing impairment disability has been made to suffer for no fault on her part.”

The order stated that ‘as per the letter/depositions/statements of the complainant, such callous incidents have happened in the past whereby, though students with disabilities carry legitimate documents/letter of permission issued by the regional director, NIOS, Guwahati, to provide them with extra time and caregiver support during examinations, the centre superintendents and invigilators, for reasons best known to them, do not acknowledge such cases’.

Though the case was withdrawn by the complainant due to want of necessary details of the opposite parties, the court was of the view that the grievances must be addressed, it stated.

It added that ‘a copy of the court order shall be issued to the Regional Director, National Institute of Open School, Guwahati, Assam vide registered post’.

“It is the recommendation of this Court to the Regional Director to take all necessary steps and actions to ‘educate’ those persons in the field, especially the centre superintendents and invigilators, in their dealings with students with disabilities and the provisions made available for them during examinations by conducting training and sensitisation programmes,” it stated.

Experts on the topic may be approached for conducting such programmes which should be carried out at regular intervals and not just a one-time programme so that incidents such as the present case may be avoided in the future, read the order, adding that the matter had been disposed of.