The Deaf Bulletin 2013 Issue 4
“Break Barriers, Open Doors: For an inclusive society and development for all” International Day for Persons Living with Disabilities
“Can we achieve universal education without taking into consideration deaf children?”
Achieving universal primary education means more than full enrollment. It encompasses quality education, meaning that all children who attend school regularly learn basic literacy and numeracy skills and complete primary school on time. Without taking into consideration the needs of deaf children and making efforts to ad-dress language and material gaps for deaf , how can we achieve universal education as a country by 2015. Guidelines from UNESCO 2012 suggested that 20% of the state budget and 6% of GDP should be allocated to education. The previous state budget for education mainly funds salaries and there was little investment into areas which contribute to the qualitative aspects of education.
Many deaf children in urban areas do not attend school and if they do, there is a lack of facilities that will ensure quality education. Rural areas are in a worse position due to lack of qualified staff and a lack of materials and equipment. A lack of learning materials, lack of sign language interpreters, teachers who do not know how to sign and low teacher motivation explains poor educational outcomes of children who are deaf. WHO states that 10% of the population has a disability. In Zimbabwe, Leonard Cheshire also states that 75% of children with disabilities never complete primary school and some do not even attend primary education. The big question is can Zimbabwe achieve the millennium goal of universal primary education without including children with disabilities?”
Other topics covered in this bulletin are:
- Government Must Support the Deaf.
- 16 Days of Gender Activism.
- Miss Deaf Zimbabwe.
- Learn Sign Language.
Government Support the Deaf.
16 Days of Gender Activism.
Miss Deaf Zimbabwe.
Learn Sign Language.