Three days after the announcement that it would appoint volunteers, mostly students, as scribes during public exams, the School Education Department has decided to put its implementation on hold.
Sources in the department said the decision was made after backlash from disability rights organisations regarding the short time available to implement the announcement. “The move will be implemented, but not for this exam cycle,” an official said.
The previous announcement had noted that second-year students from B.Ed. colleges, District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), arts and science colleges, and engineering colleges, as well as Illam Thedi Kalvi volunteers would be appointed as scribes for students with disabilities taking up the public exam. The training for the scribes would begin with the revision exam, said School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi.
According to the circular from the Directorate of Government Examinations, the process to identify volunteers from colleges began by January-end and training from February 2.
Noting the lack of time for training the scribes, various disability rights organisations had submitted petitions to the department.
