BY COMR.YUSUF KUMO
Before going straight in this article, let me begin with the subject matter by giving a clear definition of each concept in the subject, to critically examine the challenges confronting the concepts in the subject matter and to finally suggest some possible solutions regarding the subject matter.
The
term “Deaf” has been generally referred to as inability to hear spoken words or
sounds and to some extend inability to speak verbally. According to Marian
Webster English Dictionary; “deaf-not having the faculty of hearing or only
partially able to hear”. However, it is worthy to note that, not all deaf are
unable to speak verbally. Some of them especially those who are born as normal
and become deaf later, can speak verbally similar or alike to that normal
persons.
“Students”: According to Oxford Advance Learner Dictionary; – a person who is
learning at a College or University or sometime at school.
Tertiary Institutions:- can simple be referred to as third level or stage
relating to Education in college or University. On the other hand it is an
institutions of higher learning where various disciplines and areas of
specializations are taught e.g. GSU,FUK BUK,FCE{T} etc. it is worthy to note
that deaf students are different from other deaf who don’t attend schools.
Where
the former are regarded as Educate/literate the latter are regarded as
uneducated/illiterate and know very little or nothing about the society in
which they live, their religion, language, culture and the world around them.
The former know more about the society and its current trends and issues as well
as the world around them because “when the mind is liberated through Education
the deaf can hear said Arthur C. Clarke. The former mostly exhibit acceptable
behavior more than the later. All deaf ain’t be the same.
Deafness can affect people naturally by birth or caused by faulty or damage in
the ear drum after birth or during childhood and maturity period. It comes in
different way to different people. Sometime deafness could be caused by
accident, loud noise, sickness, dirty things or using dirty objects to clean
the ears and even blow on the ear. One deaf student told me he become deaf as a
result of listening too much songs using ear piece, another deaf student told
me he become deaf as result of hot slaps on his ear by his parent when he is
kid, other told me it is by accidents. but in most case deafness occur
naturally. I am using these examples to urge everyone to take good care of his
ears to avoid losing his hearing. However some kind of deafness occurs
unexpectedly that is by the wills of Almighty God and God knows the reasons.
TYPE OF DEAF STUDENTS
It
is worthy to note that all deaf are not in the same category. Broadly speaking we have;
1. A deaf person who can’t hear but can speak/talks (Post lingual deaf person)
mostly became deaf after birth /childhood
2.
A deaf person cannot hear and cannot speak/talks (pre lingual deaf person
mostly born as deaf or affected after birth, during childhood.
3. Those who can hear but cannot talks or partially speaks It is worthy to note
that educating the pre lingual and these third category of deaf is not as easy
as the post lingual deaf students why because the post lingual deaf students
can speak and can
lip-read sometimes. In addition those who are born normal and become deaf later
have some advantages over those who was naturally born as deaf because the
former they gained some experience, norms, culture, socialization etc from
mixing with hearing counterparts before he/ she become deaf and in most case
they behave as normal ones and sometimes can hardly be identified as deaf until
one speaks the language they don’t understand or words they can’t lip-read.
In addition, the post lingual deaf
students gained much knowledge, skills and experiences faster in term of their
religion, language, culture, norm and values of our societies right from
childhood when they are hearing and learn about them more at schools, home or
with their peers after their become deaf. The pre lingual on the other hand,
sometime find it difficult to learn the language, norms, culture, values etc.
at home because they can’t hear. and most parents attention are on normal child
more than the deaf children as a result of that, they often learn them at
schools or mixing with peer groups and other types of secondary socialization.
Sometime it is difficult to compare the prelingual and post lingual deaf
because the former gained more advantage over the latter. But the latter can
sometime struggle to gain more knowledge, skills and experiences than the
former. it is a matter of talents, determination, hard work and confidence.
Mrs. Chinyere Catherine, (a deaf lawyer and disable right advocate) has this to
say “when you see a prelingual deaf person who can read and write good English
and is a University graduate, please doff your hat for them. It is a big feat.
They deserve medals of Honor, TRULY!
Of course it is not easy for the deaf, it’s neither a miracle, but it is a
matter of confidence, hard work prayers & determination to excel and
success.
CHALLENGES AND PROPECTS
Being
a deaf is not the end of life but a challenge you need to overcome by believing
in yourself that you can makes it no matter situation. Broadly speaking deaf
students faced a number of challenges which can sometime affect their studies
or hinder them from doing well in their academic, sometime it even led to
self-withdrawal in school and or colleges. (I personally know some deaf that
withdrawn themselves from higher tertiary institutions) However, for us to
fully understand the challenges confronting the deaf students in higher
tertiary institutions, we should look at the roots, causes and effects.
1. FAMILY & SOCIETAL CHALLENGES: – Life begins with the family & home’s
the first place of anyone in any society. It’s worthy to note that many deaf
students in Nigeria face a number of challenge from home, these challenges
includes discrimination/unequal treatment, lacks of care and concerns as well
as parental negligence. It is disheartening that a deaf student who, despite
his disability, struggled with patience and confidence to complete / finish his
primary and secondary schools as well as secured admission to study in higher
tertiary institution were still shown little concerns by their parents at home.
Most parents’ attentions are on normal children because they think deaf persons
could never success in life like the normal ones due to their wrong perception
of the deaf and deafness. The facts is that we have many disabled and deaf who
are successful, some of them are now lecturers, lawyers, Civil servants,
academicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, politicians, computer wizards to
mention but few. … I personally know many of them…some of whom are currently
studying or working abroad some perhaps due to the discriminatory attitudes of
Nigerian tertiary institutions, government and the society they perceived.
Meanwhile, Hume asserts that “the distortion of
disabilities may also result if a child is raised in a household that views the
disabled negatively. The child will then most likely carry this negative
attitude into adulthood. Most people will alter their views when they finally
meet a disabled person who has established himself as a member of society,
possibly with a family of his/her own. In almost all the success stories that
get to the public” Hume (1990)
Although it is true that some parents of the deaf are poor, unable to support even their normal children studying in higher tertiary institutions, if they were unable to support their normal children studying in higher tertiary institutions, imagine about their deaf children? the situation could be worst for the deaf students studying in higher tertiary institutions. However, the hard fact is that some parents consider deafness as a curse rather than a blessing. Because some parents thinks a deaf person can never be somebody in life, they therefore shift attention to their normal children’s education neglecting about the deaf, Imagine….to be frank, some of these prejudice attitudes against some the deaf people is not only discouraging and discriminatory but also a killing the future ambition of the deaf. In facts it frequently affects their academic performances. Being a deaf/disabled could be devastating for those who experience inadequate social and cultural emancipation in their state of life. The major factors which influence their impact is the age of unset, degree of severity, attitudes of parents, siblings, the community and the larger society. There are many who are not able to talk about their disability and who do spend most of their lives feeling sorry for themselves, frustrated, and angry. From many other experiences, these feelings are also a result of what the person was taught. If a disabled person was spoiled as a child and told he/she can do nothing, then he/she will not want to do anything but feel sorry for him/herself. ~Anonymous
We are fighting for a society which celebrates difference, a society which does not react to physical, sensory or intellectual impairments, or emotional distress, with fear and with prejudice. We want a society that recognizes the difficulties we face, but which also values us for what we are.
2. ACADEMICS/INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES:
In fact, many normal people wonders how can a deaf who can’t hear the lectures cope with his/her academic studies in a school where there is neither special education nor interpreters… this is the frequent question I am asked by normal
counterparts when I first got admission in tertiary institution. Funny enough, I was doing well and always moving forward right from the beginning of my academic journey. I thank the lord for seeing me through regardless……I always believe it’s a matter of hard work, prayers and determination to excel/success. However, deaf students in any tertiary institutions normally face challenges with within the tertiary institution itself. the challenges could be as a result of discrimination from colleague and or staff, lack of course materials and other written document (which the deaf solely depend for their studies,) another challenges is lack of interpreters ,Interpreter is a person who can turn/translate spoken languages into sign language and finger spelling ,haven’t you ever saw one? When there is interpreters the deaf
learn faster than when there is not unfortunately, majority of our higher tertiary institutions especially in the north, don’t care about hiring an interpreter for the deaf students studying in their institutions… in fact some deaf students told me that, if the deaf dare complain to their institutions that they don’t understands the lecturers and need an interpreter, some of the institutions will say, we don’t have special education here other will say why don’t you apply FCE Special Oyo, Unijos or Unilorin where there are special education and many interpreter available? (I personally know an institution that deregistered a student when they realized she is a deaf. It was after tough legal battle that they readmitted her. Thank to human and disability right activists and advocates, I also know one college that threatened to withdraw their deaf students or send them to special education FCE Oyo, thanks to intervention of deaf elders, leaders and their concerned lecturers who have confidence in them and oppose the decisions of the staffs. I also know one college in the north that said they can’t admit any deaf student anymore because of poor academic performance they saw from one deaf present in their college, what a misconception about the deaf. Some people thinks that all of us are the same in manner, intellectual and talents, no that’s misjudgments. We ain’t be the same. Even identical twins ain’t be same in everything.) Meanwhile some institutions will just advise them to apply for a transfer into the tertiary institutions they know that there is interpreters. Imagine, how can some deaf from poor or neglected by family afford to go and studies in these distant and expensive institutions? It’s also against their preferences, not all of us want to study special education, and if we apply in some institutions like FCE OYO and Unijos, it’s compulsory that we should study special education even if we applied for only B.Sc. Sociology, Political science or Economics, special education is a must, which is somehow against our preference, that’s why some of us don’t want to study there because our preferences is not respected there, they thinks that once you have disability you should study special education even if you don’t want to .. which is not right…just as Meekosha argued that, Negative perception about persons with disabilities and their subsequent placement in confined institutions, increased their exclusion from mainstream society, thus limiting their ability to integrate in society and make their voices heard on national issues (Meekosha,1999).) …in addition, lack of cooperation and information about tests, assignments, tutorials and other academics activities as well as discrimination and seclusion from colleagues is a major challenge discouraging deaf students in higher tertiary institutions in fact, Prejudice, discrimination, services which disempower and segregate us, a failure to use resources to create accessible environments and technology to aid communication – these are the disabling barriers that we experience. ‘My impairment is the fact that I can’t speak; my disability is the fact that you won’t take the time and trouble to learn how to communicate with me’ ~one person with hearing disability
3. GOVERNMENT:- The duty of government is to support and empower especially the
most vulnerable…to ensure it provide meaningful way of life to every citizens
of its states, to support and encourage particularly less privileged members of
the society in order to see they achieve their hidden potential and achieve
their goals, but unfortunately most level of government fails take its
responsibilities. When parents and society fail to support and encourage deaf
education it is duty of government to support and empower them, educationally,
them but in most case the government at all level has shown little or no
concern toward deaf education. It is worthy to note that in other countries
deaf/ disabled education is free and compulsory but here in our society it is
not/never, no matter which kind of disability affect you, you must pay not even
50% of the amount for school fees, but full amount. It is only few states and
very few institutions in Nigeria where deaf/disabled students are required to
pay 50% of the total amount for registration. Government is supposed to do
something about this; deaf and disabled are the most vulnerable who need
special consideration. Even the scholarship, not all of them are paid reasonable amount without any bonus
despite their disability and the most disheartening is, when they successfully
graduated most of them are denied jobs by government official just because they
can’t hear. As
Obani observed, Many who succeed in completing their primary and secondary
school education, vocational or technical education, do not have equal job
opportunities available to them (Obani, 2006).
This is not only discriminatory but also pathetic. Give them chance in their area of specialization and see if they can’t. Belief me a deaf workers is a good workers. They will surely contribute a lot in the rapid growth and development of their place of work if given special consideration. The focus of our civil rights movement is therefore on society; it is not on us as individuals. The issue is not our impairments, but the extent to which our society is an integrated one, the extent of social exclusion. We ask, not what disabled people can or cannot do, but what society can do to tackle the barriers to inclusion~ Jean Morris. He further added that, “The qualities of our lives, our life chances, are not inevitably determined by what our bodies can’t do or look like or how our minds function. Like the women’s movement, we say – biology is not destiny. If I could not get a job that would be because of discrimination, not because I can’t walk or because I’m a woman” The government should also provide strategies that will lead to attitude change in the society such as Bills/Laws protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. (Disability Bill)
PROSPECTS AND RECOMMENDATION
Due to time & space, I have to summarize the prospective and recommendations. First & foremost, families should try to understand deaf child and treat them equal
without any form of discrimination. Kindly support them, encourage them, motivate them and belief me they will perform very well in their academic excel and will be great God willing. They will be successful if not very successful at the end. Secondly, the society has its responsibility; the society should encourage deaf education through various support programmes and mutual understanding without comparing them with the uneducated & deaf beggars. they are quite different. Thirdly the institutions should try all it can do to ensure course materials and written documents are available for deaf students to cope. In addition, guidance and counseling by lecturers as well as hiring an interpreter for them when necessary is important. the lecturers and staff should be ready & willing to hear their complaints as most are due to lack of course materials in addition they should be properly informed about lecturers, tests, assignments etc. and finally the government has a great role to play. If the govt cannot make deaf education free and compulsory like in other countries including Africans, why not make it half free and compulsory? I mean why not making it 50% free but compulsory when it is completely free and compulsory in many countries including some in African? The government should know that deaf/disabled people are
special people who deserve special consideration, any society that neglects disabled education and welfare, the result is; Mendicancy, which speak ill of the society in the midst of foreigners.
In
conclusion, I’m urging parents of the deaf, the society, the governments at all
levels, non-governmental organization and philanthropists to please encourage
deaf education like the way they are mostly encouraging girl child education.
Mind you being a deaf is not a barrier to education. the only barrier is
discrimination, parental and societal negligence towards deaf
and disabled education. “We are fighting for a society which
celebrates difference, a society which does not react to physical, sensory or
intellectual impairments, or emotional distress, with fear and with prejudice.
We want a society that recognizes the difficulties we face, but which also
values us for what we are” ~J. Morris
“It is the individual who is not interested in
his follow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the
greatest injury to others, it’s from among such individuals that all human
failures spring” –Alfred Adler.
(COMRADE YUSUF KUMO is a deaf graduate of political science and a Pioneer
President, Gombe State Deaf Students Association, GSU Chapter. Wrote in from
Gombe)
