GUWAHATI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had issued some guidelines for students appearing for the All India Senior School Certificate Examination (AISSCE) board exams this year. One of the rules dictated that students will not be allowed to carry any electronic items inside the examination hall including mobile phones, smart watches etc.
A student from Tinsukia English Academy was harassed by CBSE authorities, an exam invigilator and exam coordinator for the centre of examination in Laipuli. The boy, a student from the science stream was made to wait for 15 minutes before his Chemistry exam on March 12 as he wears a hearing aid because he suffers from sensorineural hearing loss.
During his two previous exams, on March 2 and March 5, he did not face any problems regarding his hearing aid. However, on the day of the Chemistry exam, he was harassed. The student always informs his invigilators about his hearing aid before all of his exams as he is appearing as a regular student instead of a student with disability. He had even spoken to his school authorities about his hearing aid and they mentioned that it was okay to wear it as CBSE has no rules about its specifications.
On March 12, he had reached the exam centre on time. He informed his invigilator about his hearing aid and the latter took the boy to the examination coordinator who made him wait for 15 minutes while other students started writing their paper. He was not given extra time in the end to make up for lost time and because of this, he could not revise his paper.
After he had submitted his paper, he was again made to wait for another 30 minutes, after which he was told to write a letter stating that he wears a hearing aid. He was told that this letter would be submitted to CBSE officials to confirm his condition so that no further objections are raised.
