<div dir="ltr"><h1 class="">Zimbabwe: Education Policy Sidelines Deaf Children</h1><p class="">IT
is a sunny Friday afternoon and Tawanda Matipedza is asked by his new
teacher why he transferred from Tafara 5 Primary School to Greendale
School of the Deaf.</p>
<p class="">Responding in sign
language through an interpreter, he poured his heart out: "My former
teacher would force me to speak and she thought my silence was caused by
stubbornness and this made me uncomfortable. It was also difficult for
me to understand subjects such as English and Content because the
teachers could not explain the meanings of the words they used," he
said.</p>
<p class="">These are the sad realities that most deaf children experience when accessing education in most schools.</p>
<p class="">This is due to the
fact that government introduced a policy of inclusive education centred
on teaching all children under one roof despite different abilities such
as being slow, visually or hearing impaired.</p>
<p class="">Teachers are also expected to manage the children and effectively deliver on their mandate despite these inhibiting challenges.</p>
<p class="">In addition, the
country's Constitution recognises sign language as one of the 16
accepted official languages, making it a constitutional right for
children to learn any of these languages.</p>
<p class="">Tawanda is, however, one of the few lucky deaf children in school.</p>
<p class="">Statistics compiled
by the Deaf Zimbabwe Trust (DZT) show that Zimbabwe has 85 964 deaf
children and over 90 percent of these children are not in school.</p>
<p class="">In September 2013,
Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Lazarus Dokora said only 2 261
deaf children were receiving education in the country's 115 resource
units and nine special schools in Zimbabwe's 10 provinces.</p>
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<p class="">Barbara Nyangairi,
DZT's executive director, expressed concern that only a few deaf
children were in school. She said those in school faced barriers because
most teachers did not understand sign language.</p>
<p class="">"Teacher training
institutions do not offer training in sign language and the few that
offer training in the language do not impart concrete understanding of
the language to the teachers," she said.</p>
<p class="">Nyangairi also lamented the lack of deaf role models in society.</p>
<p class="">"As a result, most
deaf people sell airtime, beg or are unemployed. Most deaf Zimbabwean
adults are excluded from tertiary educational opportunities and
professional employment. This has resulted in a self fulfilling prophecy
of self-defeat and marginalisation where the deaf feel that they cannot
do much with their lives which has, in fact, become a reality. Besides
this, there is a limited number of secondary schools for the deaf in
Zimbabwe as compared to primary schools. This is a factor which prompts
most deaf children to drop out of school after completing grade seven.
The few who make it to secondary school struggle to pass English
Language and are not recognised by employers and the government. I think
something must be done considering that sign language is now an
official language," she said.</p>
<p class="">Lincoln Hlatywayo, a
professor in the Department of Disability Studies and Special Needs
Education at the Zimbabwe Open University, said more still needs to be
done to improve educational services for deaf children.</p>
<p class="">"There are many
deaf children who are in classes where teachers cannot communicate
effectively with them. This is a great cause for concern," he said.</p><h1 class="">Zimbabwe: Education Policy Sidelines Deaf Children</h1>
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<p class="">IT
is a sunny Friday afternoon and Tawanda Matipedza is asked by his new
teacher why he transferred from Tafara 5 Primary School to Greendale
School of the Deaf.</p>
<p class="">Responding in sign
language through an interpreter, he poured his heart out: "My former
teacher would force me to speak and she thought my silence was caused by
stubbornness and this made me uncomfortable. It was also difficult for
me to understand subjects such as English and Content because the
teachers could not explain the meanings of the words they used," he
said.</p>
<p class="">These are the sad realities that most deaf children experience when accessing education in most schools.</p>
<p class="">This is due to the
fact that government introduced a policy of inclusive education centred
on teaching all children under one roof despite different abilities such
as being slow, visually or hearing impaired.</p>
<p class="">Teachers are also expected to manage the children and effectively deliver on their mandate despite these inhibiting challenges.</p>
<p class="">In addition, the
country's Constitution recognises sign language as one of the 16
accepted official languages, making it a constitutional right for
children to learn any of these languages.</p>
<p class="">Tawanda is, however, one of the few lucky deaf children in school.</p>
<p class="">Statistics compiled
by the Deaf Zimbabwe Trust (DZT) show that Zimbabwe has 85 964 deaf
children and over 90 percent of these children are not in school.</p>
<p class="">In September 2013,
Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Lazarus Dokora said only 2 261
deaf children were receiving education in the country's 115 resource
units and nine special schools in Zimbabwe's 10 provinces.</p>
<div id="responsive-aans-view-a-container" class="">
<div class="">
<ins class="" style="display:block;width:336px;height:280px"><ins id="aswift_0_expand" style="display:inline-table;border:medium none;height:280px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:336px;background-color:transparent"><ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="display:block;border:medium none;height:280px;margin:0px;padding:0px;width:336px;background-color:transparent"></ins></ins></ins>
</div>
</div>
<p class="">Barbara Nyangairi,
DZT's executive director, expressed concern that only a few deaf
children were in school. She said those in school faced barriers because
most teachers did not understand sign language.</p>
<p class="">"Teacher training
institutions do not offer training in sign language and the few that
offer training in the language do not impart concrete understanding of
the language to the teachers," she said.</p>
<p class="">Nyangairi also lamented the lack of deaf role models in society.</p>
<p class="">"As a result, most
deaf people sell airtime, beg or are unemployed. Most deaf Zimbabwean
adults are excluded from tertiary educational opportunities and
professional employment. This has resulted in a self fulfilling prophecy
of self-defeat and marginalisation where the deaf feel that they cannot
do much with their lives which has, in fact, become a reality. Besides
this, there is a limited number of secondary schools for the deaf in
Zimbabwe as compared to primary schools. This is a factor which prompts
most deaf children to drop out of school after completing grade seven.
The few who make it to secondary school struggle to pass English
Language and are not recognised by employers and the government. I think
something must be done considering that sign language is now an
official language," she said.</p>
<p class="">Lincoln Hlatywayo, a
professor in the Department of Disability Studies and Special Needs
Education at the Zimbabwe Open University, said more still needs to be
done to improve educational services for deaf children.</p>
<p class="">"There are many
deaf children who are in classes where teachers cannot communicate
effectively with them. This is a great cause for concern," he said.</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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