Deaf teachers seek special standard for deaf pupils

The National Deaf Teachers Association has said it is wrong to set the same academic standards for pupils without disability and their deaf and hard-of-hearing counterparts, calling it “misplaced expectations.”

The Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Dr. Tola Odusanya, said this at the inaugural conference of the association in Oyo on Thursday, with the theme, “Deaf children’s education today: Creating a shared vision for deaf teachers.

Odusanya said setting the same academic standards for both categories of pupils would deny deaf pupils the opportunity to flourish.

“Our society has clear expectations, albeit misplaced ones, regarding deaf pupils, to the point of equating their achievements with those of their hearing peers.

“One of such misplaced expectations is to advocate for inclusion. However, it is the collective belief of deaf teachers that deaf pupils and students should not be expected to meet the same set of academic standards articulated for their peers without disabilities.

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“In this respect, we will like to emphasise that inclusion is a misplaced priority, as it denies deaf pupils the opportunity to flourish as their hearing peers,” he said.

Rather than focus on inclusive education, Odusanya, who is the head, Curriculum and Instructions Department, Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo, asked government and all stakeholders to introduce reforms regarding education for deaf children in the country.

Odusanya further recommended improved funding, equipment of interpreters and the employment of only deaf teachers to teach deaf pupils.

“Experience has shown that deaf teachers get better results from deaf pupils. To be candid, many hearing teachers in schools for the deaf today hardly know how to use the sign language or lip read. Just picture it, you have a pupil/student that cannot hear. You cannot sign and the pupil cannot lip read for one reason or the other. How will teaching and learning take place?” he asked.

In his submission, another deaf teacher, Mr. Tope Olaniyi, said the association was formed to challenge deaf pupils by organising debates as well as serve as a pressure group to make government provide better learning environment, among other objectives.

“We intend to continuously expose our members to best practices to make them effective. We are also canvassing for automatic employment for deaf graduates,” he said.

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