Access to education for children with hearing loss in India

The Indian government has issued guidance asking schools not to reject applications from physically challenged children but change on the ground has been slow. Parveen Jath, founder of Gyan Academy School, has a hearing-impaired daughter and it was her uphill battle to find suitable education for her daughter that prompted her to open the school, reports the daily newspaper The Hindu, headquartered in Chennai.

Parveen Jath found that there are many parents who have faced the same challenges she did. Gyan Academy School admits normal-hearing children as well as those with hearing disabilities. The school currently has 80 students, 10 of whom are hearing-impaired, including six girls. Ms. Jath said that in her experience the learning capacity of hearing-impaired children is better than normal-hearing children. “All we have to do is to spend a little extra time in the beginning, then they learn so quickly,” she said.

In addition, Ms. Jath is a firm believer in the idea that enabling hearing-impaired students to study with normal-hearing students helps them to learn faster and better compared to those who are in education in special schools. The school has four teachers, all of whom have been given training on how to teach children with hearing difficulties.

Source: The Hindu