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The core recommendation in the IAP Advocacy
document on Specific Learning Disability (SLD), submitted to all
stakeholders for disability initiatives in India, was that SLD be
included as a disability in the Persons With Disability Act (PWD
Act) that was to be amended last year. The advocacy was part of the
IAP Poor Scholastic Performance Program – IAP Action Plan 2007 and
2011. Though the committee for the amendment of the Act did not have
IAP representation, we were kept in the loop through e-mails and the
proposed amendment - The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill,
2011 [1] – which is now being scrutinised by a parliamentary
committee, includes SLD in the ‘List of disabilities’ as the 18th
out of 20 disabilities proposed for inclusion. It is not the final
list and we are yet uncertain if SLD will continue to be on this all
important ‘list’ when the bill is passed.
Issues Involved
Certification of SLD
Being an invisible handicap, there is no uniform
national guideline in India, for diagnosis, assessment of severity,
and certification of SLD. The recommendations differ from State to
State and from one board of examination to another. One fact is
certain – that till date, since SLD is not included in the PWD Act
1995, certification by the District Disability Board is not required
or valid. An appraisal of the current scenario with regard to
certification (Box 1) highlights the difficulty with
proposing a standardised mechanism for the purpose.
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BOX 1 Current Provision for SLD
Maharashtra [2] – The state board
recognize certification only from 3 hospitals – Lokmanya
Tilak Muncipal Medical College, Sion, Mumbai (Sion Hospital)
and Nair Hospital; KEM Hospital, Mumbai also certifies
children having SLD or from the Government Surgeon General
in Mumbai.
Karnataka - Candidates with SLD need
to be certified as dyslexic from either the National
Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS),
Bangalore, St John’s Hospital, Bangalore; All-India
Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore; any psychiatrist
working in a government hospital; any clinical psychologist
with an M.Phil. qualification and attested by a government
doctor (not below the rank of a district surgeon).
Tamil Nadu - Psychiatrists from
Government Hospitals can certify based on the assessment by
Clinical Psychologist as per The Tamil Nadu Government Order
No. 47 Sl No. 1, issued on February 18, 1999.
Kerala - Till last year SLD
certificate with a LD assessment and IQ assessment report
from a psychiatrist – above rank of Asst. surgeon in any
Govt. Hospital – was valid. The report needed to specify the
deficit – dysgraphia/dyscalculia/dyslexia – and be
countersigned by the DEO [3]. The request for assessment and
later submission for provisions must be made by the school
Principal. Due to some discrepancies, this system is being
reviewed this year.
Delhi - Till some time ago
pediatricians, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists,
special educators were all certifying SLD. Special educators
and clinical psychiatrists have stopped certifying - they
only assess and provide their assessment report to patients.
The children are referred to the Institute of Human
Behavioral and Allied Sciences (IHBAS). The Education
department NCT of Delhi have appointed special educators,
who call themselves special teachers and there are a lot of
confusing messages circulating regarding whose certification
the various school boards would recognize for granting
provisions.
ICSE - Exemption from the requirement
of the study of a second language: The Council may grant
exemption from the study of a second language, to a
candidate with special difficulty, provided the case
warrants such an exemption, because of the severe nature of
the learning disability of the candidate. Such an exemption
will be granted only on a recommendation sent by the head of
the school and on provision of the necessary documents
certified by a competent authority approved by the
State/Central Government and acceptable to the Council [4].
The regulations do not specify regarding other forms of SLD.
CBSE - Head of the Institution needs
to issue a certificate of school based evaluation covering
the past 10 years’ academic record. But the circular on
inclusive education, which refers to provisions for SLD, to
all heads of institutions affiliated to CBSE does not give
in writing the procedure for availing of these provisions.
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There exists a lack of guidelines, and although
some legislation exists, provisions are not yet accessible to
students all over the country, especially in rural areas and urban
slums. On the contrary, the systems are manipulated, by vested
interests, so that some children who do not require the provisions
are availing of the same.
Difficulties in creating uniform assessment tools
for SLD in India
Nearly all definitions of SLD, whether
exclusionary or inclusionary, refer to the terms such as adequate
intelligence, appropriate instruction and socio-cultural factors
which are difficult to standardize in a pluralistic society such as
ours. Formulating clear cut indigenous assessment tools for
processing deficits, intelligence testing and proficiency in
reading, writing and mathematics; in the several hundred languages
spoken in India (1961 census recognized 1,652; 2001 Census found
that 30 languages are spoken by more than million native speakers,
122 by more than 10,000; and in addition, there are several hundreds
of active dialects) would be a mammoth task. These complex issues
are compounded by a near total lack of teacher awareness,
differences in age of school enrollment, pre-school exposure to
literacy, quality of teaching in schools, and learning environment
and support at home.
Inability to grade SLD
It is not possible to grade SLD like other
visible handicaps or mental retardation and therefore, a
standardized method of grouping children according to severity of
SLD giving adequate consideration to the co-morbid conditions
present in a given child, needs to be devised.
Decision on facilities that may be provided
As of now, since SLD in not recognised as a
disability in the PWD Act 1995, the only facility that these
children can avail of is the provisions for examinations conducted
by the various boards of examinations. There is no uniformity in
these either.
Maharashtra Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary
Education provides (i) extra time - 30 minutes for SSC and 1
hour for HSC students; (ii) exemption from third language
(Hindi/Marathi) for SSC students. Students may take a vocational
subject instead. HSC students may take a vocational subject instead
of the second language; (iii) exemption from paper II in
Mathematics (Algebra and Geometry) for SSC students; (iv)
students may take a vocational subject of 75 marks in lieu of
Mathematics Paper II; and (v) a writer may be provided as per
the rules of the board. For students of standard I to IX, the school
may apply to the Deputy Director of Education through the Divisional
Inspector for similar provisions. Maharashtra remains the only state
where children with SLD are trained to take examinations,
incorporating the provisions, from primary classes onwards. A recent
circular from the Higher and Technical Education Board extends these
provisions to technical Institutions, non-agricultural and
agricultural universities, effectively covering students in
under-graduate and postgraduate courses. The modalities still need
to be clarified.
Tamil Nadu – (i) Extra time to answer
examination paper; (ii) use of calculator; (iii) using
Clarke’s table; (iv) appointment of scribe to read the
question paper or answer the paper
ICSE – (i) Extra time - 15 minute/per hour
or 25% of total time extra; (ii) exemption from second
language: student need not take another subject in lieu; (iii)
use of calculator in some cases for mathematics; (iv)
question paper will be read out to the student; and (v) use
of a writer, if required, as per the rules.
CBSE – (i) Use of a writer as per the
rules of the board; (ii) additional 1 hour for each paper;
and (iii) one compulsory language as against 2 in addition to
any 4 of the following subjects: mathematics, science, social
science, another language, music, painting and home science.
The IAP Advocacy on SLD recommends that, by
inclusion of SLD as a disability, there be uniformity in provisions
all over the country and eligibility for facilities like (i)
reservations for children with SLD in colleges and jobs, especially
in professions where a given child with SLD could excel, depending
on the child’s strengths; (ii) resources (financial and
legislation) for ensuring that every school in the country has a
well staffed resource room; every district has sufficient centres
for dealing with remediation of children with moderate to severe
SLD; and a bachelor of education program at the National and State
level compulsorily include a SLD module. Regular teachers should be
required to do the 6 months foundation course in education of
children with disabilities in distance mode. Teachers of children
with special needs and regular teachers may also be trained in SLD
under the Sarva Shiksha Abhyan. Also, there is a need to spread SLD
awareness and information dissemination across India by trainers,
teachers, parents and medical fraternity.
Legislation in Other Countries
Legislation in the UK, USA and other developed
countries recognize children with learning disorders as having
special educational needs (SEN)
[6,7]. The laws in those countries entitle these
children to avail special teaching and provisions in the examination
in the mainstream inclusive schools and provide vocational training
and placement. India needs to follow in true letter and spirit.
Funding: None; Competing interests:
None stated.
References
1. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill,
2011. Presented by Committee appointed by Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment, Government of India. Prepared by Centre for
Disability Studies, NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad, India 30
June 2011. http://socialjustice.nic.in/pdf/report-pwd.pdf. Accessed
on March 15, 2012.
2. Provisions Available to Students with Dyslexia
in Maharashtra. Maharashtra Dyslexia Association.
http://www.mdamumbai.com/advocacy.html. Accessed on March 15, 2012.
3. SSLC examination March 2011. Notification.
Office of the commissioner of examinations. Examination Bhavan,
Punjapara, Thiruvanathapuram 12. No. E.X. / C.G.L(1)/3001/10/CGE
dated 4/9/2010. (document in Malayalam). Accessed on March 15, 2012.
4. Regulations - Indian Certificate of Secondary
Education Examination. Http://www.cisce.org/icse%20syllabuses%
202012%20final%20crc/1.Syllabus%20regulations.Pdf. Accessed on March
18, 2012.
5. CBSE / ACAD / INCLUSIVE EDUCATION /
2008. Circular no. 45. Inclusive practices in CBSE schools.
cbse.nic.in/circulars/cir45-2008.doc. Accessed on March 17, 2012.
6. Stow L, Selfe L. Understanding Children with
Special Needs - A Handbook For The Caring Professions: London: Unwin
Hyman Ltd, 1989.
7. IDEA Regulations series by the US Department
of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services (OSERS), 2006. Available at http://idea.ed.gov. Accessed on
March 17, 2012.
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