New research to help deaf students become self-reliant

30.06.2017, Lucknow: Aiming to make hearing-impaired students financially independent, Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University will join hands with University of Central Lancashire's International Institute for Sign Language and Deaf Studies (IISLADS) for a collaborative research project, to identify the challenges and future prospects of educating the deaf.

IISLADS director Prof Urlike Zeeshan met SMNRU vice-chancellor Prof Nishith Rai , on Thursday, to discuss the various ways in which deaf students could be educated. During the meeting, it was decided that the two institutions would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support education of deaf students. "Together, the two institutes will conduct research to find out the problems faced by teachers while educating students with hearing impairment. The findings will be incorporated into a policy,'' said SMNRU spokesperson Prof AP Tiwari.

Zeeshan, who is also visiting faculty at SMRU, had conducted a study on deaf students living in South India. Tiwari said in her studies Prof Zeeshan had found out that the deaf people trained in sign language were most effective teachers for hearing-impaired students. "They understand the complexities faced by deaf people, and so they tend to teach them better,'' Tiwari said.

The research would be funded by United Kingdom's Economic and Social Research Council and will be conducted in four countries-India, UK, Uganda, and Ghana.

Experts from both the institutes will also prepare a curriculum based on the needs of deaf students, who will be enrolled in the upcoming College for Deaf at SMNRU. The course would place special emphasis on imparting soft skills to students.