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Disability
is not Inability |
::Promoting integration of Children with hearing imparments
curriculum - based instruction materials.
14 July 2006
Kenya is finally moving towards a policy that would improve education
of persons with disabilities into the practical and productive.
The ministry of education working under the free primary education
programme demands is in the process of developing a national policy
framework that will guide various education practitioners to provide
productive education to children with disabilites.
Deaf education for example faces various challenges that hinder
the implementation of various strategic policy decisions like
Free Primary Education (FPE) and Inclusive Education (IE). Apart
from issues like lack of adequate teachers with special skills
in deaf education, low parental awareness on education opportunities
for Deaf children, poverty and social stigma. The Role of Sign
language as a medium of instruction is the single most important
challenge facing instruction of children with hearing impairments
in Kenya.
The Ministry working with various practitioners and organizations
like the National Council for Persons with disabilities (NCPWD)
are in the final stages of bringing sanity into the area. Much
of deaf education in the last 50 years has seen the graduates
of educational system not able to read and write English even
after 12 years of education. Reading and writing English is considered
important if integration is to be effective. The deaf finishing
school must be integrated into the economy.
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This is being done by creating an enabling environment
for standardized instruction that enables inclusion within
the regular curiculum. To achieve this, curriculum based education
materials, training of teachers in special education, integration
of sign language, among others have been identified as crucial. |
The large enrolment that has lead to high teacher/pupil ratio
may bring new challenges to inclusion of pupils with disability.
sign language based instruction
The deaf communicate in Sign language as their mother tongue.
Yet Kenya Sign Language (KSL) or Signed Exact English (SEE) are
not formally integrated into instruction education materials used
in the teaching them. With the increase in use of KSL it is expected
that more materials will be published. This also puts to rest
the question that has caused much confusion: which language should
we use to instruct the pupils with hearing impairments. It is
now clear that Kenya Sign Language only will be used although
within the context of total communication.
Quality deaf education is mainly challenged by lack of curriculum
based education material in sign language. It is generally agreed
that to be able to achieve quality education for the deaf that
enables higher, technical and professional learning, English and
sign language is essential. This needs to be built through an
effective foundation of teaching education. The sign language
based instruction and reading materials should have to begin at
pre-school level. The deaf would continue using the same school
curriculum as the regular pupils. Yet sign language based materials
would be equally available.
Standardized curriculum-based educational materials developed
in Kenya sign language will enable more schools and community
to integrate the deaf with consensus participation of all schools,
residential and regular schools (with Deaf units).
It will also open ICT doors in which much of the content can be
put in ICT based structures that enable access to schools. ICT
is a good practical arean to help teach wriiten English apart
from the potentials for direct sign communication through video
phones.
increase enrolment.
1) increasing quality of deaf instruction,
2) building teachers skills in instruction of deaf children in
regular inclusive setting,
3) In increasing enrolment of the Deaf children within the on-going
free education system.
2) The identified materials if developed will provide an effective
foundation for adopting/developing curriculum education materials
for standard one up-to class eight (8) from existing education
curriculum text books.
improve preschool learning for deaf children.
3) Parents/guardians were identified as important molders of
deaf children if they could be facilitated using books that also
teach them sign language. Education materials were said to be
the best media in Kenya to build parents participation in upbringing
their children.
4) Parents of deaf children would have materials i) to help teach
their children at home, ii) Help parents participate in early
deaf child education, iii) to help parents learn sign language:
a) Improve pre-school learning of deaf children.
b) Improve/extend learning of deaf children to holidays.
c) Improve informal learning, better integration of the deaf
child to the family and community.
5) Improves teaching of deaf children using the regular curriculum.
Teachers would have effective standard education materials when
it comes to deaf children. This was the reason for improved the
quality of deaf graduating from our primary schools.
Category: Education
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