JKBOSE notifies exemption for Children with special needs in class X, XI & XII examinations

The education department has said that the exemption shall be provided for Class X, XI & XII examinations conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) for Children with Special Needs (CWSN) with a benchmark disability of not less than 40%.

The department has further stated that Children with Special Needs shall continue to avail of the concession in pass percentage as offered by JKBOSE.

A notification in this regard has been issued by Dr. Farooq Ahmad Peer, Director of Academics JKBOSE.

“In exercise of the powers vested in him under section13(IV) of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Act, 1975 and in partial modification of the Notification No: F (Acad-C) PWD-Amanuensis/19 dated 17-10-2019 issued in this behalf, the Chairman has approved following modifications/additions to the regulations regarding the subject cited above and are hereby notified for the information of all the concerned that the following exemptions/concessions shall be provided for Class X, XI & XII Examinations conducted by JKBOSE to (CWSN) with benchmark disability of not less than 40%, in addition to the exemptions/concessions already offered by JKBOSE to such students, as defined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016”, the notification reads.
Through the notification, the JKBOSE has notified several organizations which shall be considered for granting concessions to disabled candidates including from both the Union Territory and as well from the Government of India.

As per the notification, the CWSN appearing in the examination shall have to secure only 28% instead of 33 % in class 10th and 31% in class 12th instead of 36%. “In case of subjects with practical’s same percentage of marks i.e. 28% in case of class 10th and 31% in case of class 12th will be required by a candidate to pass the theory and practical examination separately”, the notification reads.

Candidates with disabilities as defined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 will be exempted from studying a second language (Urdu/ Hindi) in class X, in case they want to avail of the exemption.

Candidates with specified disabilities as defined in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 will have to study only one compulsory language (English) as against two, besides any’ four from amongst the following subjects: In case of Class X:- Mathematics, Science, Social Science, second language, Music, Painting, Home Science, Computer Science

In the case of Class Xl & Xll:-For classes, XI and XII CSWN candidates shall have to opt for the courses of studies as described in syllabi prescribed by the Board. Further, no Registration and Examination fees will be charged from CWSN in X, Xl, and Xll class Board examinations.

An additional 20 minutes per hour of examination for each of the subjects shall be provided to the CWSN to compensate for the additional time required for reading by the amanuensis, understanding the question, fatigue while dictating to the Amanuensis, sitting continuously, etc.

“The CWSN shall have the discretion of opting for his/her own scribe/reader or request the examination center / Samagra Shiksha /Head of his/her Educational Institution for the same. The qualification of the scribe will be one class lower than the CWSN examinee”, the notification reads.

The candidates shall be allowed to change scribe/reader in case of emergency. The candidate shall also be allowed to take more than one scribe/reader for writing different papers, especially for languages. However, there can be only one paper scribe per subject.

Sign language Interpreters may be allowed in the Examination Room to help the learner with hearing and speech disabilities to understand the instructions. One interpreter may be adequate for each Examination room. The Centre Superintendent may take a decision regarding the arrangement of an Interpreter. The facility of Prompter is for CWSN with learning and Intellectual Disabilities who do not opt for a scribe, the notification reads.

“Use of computer will be limited to only for typing answers, for viewing the questions in the enlarged font size, for listening to the question items. Wheelchair users and mobility-impaired learners will be given the facility to write the examination on the ground floor in case the examination room is inaccessible”, the notification added.