PRESS RELEASE Ref.Sam/2013/128 Dated: 08/05/2013 Press Statement In response to the Writ Petition filed by Sambhavana Organization demanding the stay on the proposed four year undergraduate Program (FYUP) in Delhi University, today (May 8th) the honourable High Court directed the Respondent to file a report within a week explaining how the rights of visually challenged students to get equitable quality inclusive education will be protected. The Petition filed by the organization claims that the design of the proposed FYUP is discriminatory as it fails to take due considerations of specific needs of persons with disabilities. It objects proposed implementation of FYUP due to a number of reasons—the imposition of compulsory Foundation courses on Mathematics and Sciences without making adequate prior arrangement to teach these disciplines to students with visual disabilities, and the lack of reading materials in accessible formats and the absence of any serious attempt on the part of the University to address this issue in the context of hasty syllabi formulations and newly emerging courses. While keenly awaiting the University’s response on its aforementioned objections, Sambhavana reiterates that addressing crucial issues pertaining to infrastructural and academic accessibility essentially requires adequate time and proper consultations with people with disabilities themselves. One wonders whether DU will immediately initiate the process for making science labs accessible for people with vision/physical disabilities; to orient teachers to teach science and maths to blind students; and to arrange an be familiar with devices and assistive technology required to enable disabled students to study proposed foundation courses. In fact, once DU enters in this process, it would realize that these problems are central to most of the courses that without ensuring availability of accessible reading material to disabled students, it has been hastily drawing and implementing new schemes; and that the problem of two above-referred foundation courses are exemplarily important as they are completely new for vision impaired students. Otherwise, educational institutions in India have never given the priority to disability related issues in overall planning and implementation of various schemes and programmes that otherwise morally and legally they deserve; and therefore the end result has been exclusion and discrimination in the name of exumption. However, disabled people are no longer prepared to tolerate this indifference and tokenism. We are extremely excited to find proactive attitude of the court which has asked Delhi University to file a report in this regard before the implementation of FYUP. Sambhavana believes that any token response from the University would only contribute to the exclusionary nature of the FYUP and the University’s continuing insensitivity towards its disabled students. However, the Organization has resolved to fight any such discrimination. The matter is listed for next hearing on coming Wednesday (May 15th 2013).
Sambhavana Team Phones: +91-9818685889, +91-9818193875, +9013727325, +91-9818021880. -- Vikas Gupta Assistant Professor–University of Delhi; Joint Secretary–Sambhavana Organization; National Executive Member–All-India Forum for Right to Education (AIF-RTE); Associate Editor–'Reconstructing Education'; Permanent Office: Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Delhi , Delhi 110007, India. Ph: +91-11-266659 (O.), +91-11-27662347 (R.) & +91-9818193875 (M.) Email: [email protected] Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
