Nara Lokesh.
| Photo Credit: File Photo

A differently-abled girl student who was carried by her mother to the exam hall on the first floor of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Girls’ Gurukul School at Lakshmipuram in Pagidyala mandal to take the test on the first day of State Tenth Class board examinations was allowed to write the exam on the ground floor itself on the second day on Wednesday.

“If this is true, I apologize to all the specially-abled students who have faced this inconvenience. Strict instructions will be given to the concerned officials to ensure this does not repeat.”N. LokeshHRD Minister

When a video of the woman carrying her daughter to the first floor surfaced on social media on Tuesday, HRD Minister N. Lokesh responded: “If this is true, I apologize to all the specially-abled students who have faced this inconvenience. Strict instructions will be given to the concerned officials to ensure this does not repeat.”

However, District Education Officer (DEO) P. Janardhan Reddy explained, “In the examination centre nominal roll, the girl student was mentioned as ‘disabled’ under the disabled code 22-intellectual disability. We were not aware of her exact condition. There was no prior requisition from the student or the authorities for the allotment of an examination room on the ground floor, intimating us of her condition.”

The DEO added that the student’s mother reached the centre and took her daughter to the first floor, even before the authorities brought the question papers from the Mutchumarri police station to the centre. The officials at the centre noticed the student’s disability only after distributing the question paper, he said.

Mr. Reddy said that the chief superintendent at the examination centre had immediately enquired about her disability and assured her mother that arrangements would be made for the student to take the test on the ground floor from the next exam.

Meanwhile, the education department’s preliminary enquiry revealed that a reporter from a vernacular daily had rushed the mother to carry the student to the first floor, where she was photographed. However, the department sources said this happened before examination officials reached the school.