The National Examination Board is going to make arrangements for students with disabilities to take exams at home centers (examination centers of the same school they attended). The board has proposed such an arrangement by making public the draft of the Examination Facilitation Guidelines for Students with Disabilities, 2082. Stakeholders have also been urged to provide suggestions on the draft by 10th Poush.

The guideline states that home centers should be established for students with disabilities as much as possible and that the exam center should be disability-friendly.

There is also a provision for separate collection and testing of answer sheets for students with disabilities. 'The exam center should pack and send the answer sheets of students with disabilities separately without mixing them with the answer sheets of students without disabilities,' the guideline states.

In the SEE and Class 12 exams conducted by the board, students with disabilities are forced to go to the same designated exam center and take the exam like other students. There is no clear provision for sending the answer sheets separately. Decisions have been made on the materials to be used by students in the exam. Board member secretary Jung Bahadur Aryal said that the guideline is being brought to remove the difficulties and problems faced by students with disabilities. ‘We have prepared a draft after all-party discussions,’ he said, ‘after giving the final shape to the guidelines, they will be implemented.’

The guidelines have made provision for students to be provided with separate arrangements in the examination according to the type of disability mentioned in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2074 BS. The act has specified 10 types of physical, vision, hearing, hearing-impaired, voice and speech, mental or psychosocial, intellectual, hereditary bleeding, hemophilia, autism and multiple disabilities. ‘The board will prepare registration and examination application forms in a manner that distinguishes the nature and intensity of the disability and the school will have to fill the form accordingly,’ the guidelines say.

Students with disabilities will be able to choose the examination center that suits them best in the form. ‘For examinees with disabilities, accommodation should be arranged in a quiet and barrier-free classroom according to their type,’ the guideline states, ‘If they want to use electronic materials, the examination center should arrange for minimum infrastructure and equipment to provide such materials.’ The

board has also prepared a list of electronic materials that can be used in the examination according to the type of disability. ‘Examinees should be given the opportunity to choose whether to take the examination using technology or taking the examination with an assistant,’ the guideline states, ‘If technology is used, the examinee should use it himself if the equipment has been installed.’ It has been proposed that prior approval should be obtained from the center head if equipment other than those included in the list is required.

The guideline states that wheelchair-accessible ramps or electric stairs, doors to the examination hall and toilets, and tactile signs, as well as sign language signs, should be arranged in the examination center.

The guidelines stipulate that the examination room should have adequate light and air circulation, a spacious space to accommodate wheelchairs, walkers or other assistive devices, and a quiet environment with appropriate temperature and comfortable seating to help examinees with autism, mental and psychological disabilities focus.

‘A desk-bench according to height should be provided for examinees whose height is much lower than the average for their age,’ the guidelines state, ‘A maximum of 10 minutes of rest time per hour should be arranged for examinees with special cord injuries, ADHD dialysis, autism and mental or psychosocial disabilities.’

The tasks, duties and powers of the board, local level, education development and coordination unit, school, center head, etc. have also been prescribed for the implementation of the guidelines. The board has been given the authority to give instructions to lower bodies for the implementation of the provisions of the guidelines.