Since 1947, the development of special education in Pakistan has been describe by reference to government planning and policy papers as well as independent reports. The reason for providing special services is examine, along with data on government and non-profit special schools, in the context of persistently low national expenditure on education and health. Integration, both planned and unplanned, as well as teacher education, are all being studied. The contemporary relevance of Western-style, child-centered education in Pakistan is calle into doubt. Existing and planned programs seem unlikely to serve most children with special needs shortly. Some alternative approaches are propose, along with the political and religious reasons for doing so.
Introduction
Abstract In light of studies completed in Pakistan. It is critical to comprehend special education and the services provided to deaf persons. A brief history of special education is provided. As well as the educational setting, curriculum, and instructional methodologies for deaf kids. Furthermore, the view of deaf persons in Pakistani culture and their social-emotional adjustment are underline. The current state of special education and deaf education is describe in conclusion. Deaf, Educational Setting, Sign Language, and Cultural Model are all keyword.
Pakistan, with a population of 130.58 million, is sixth among the world’s most populated countries. But ranks 160th in terms of literacy, falling into the 55 percentile globally (Pakistan Ministry of Finance, 2003). The government invests just 2.5% of its yearly GNP on education and training. Which is low when compared to other countries in the area such as Malaysia, Thailand, and India, which spend between 3.5% and 7% of their GNP on education (Khan, 1998). According to estimates, 2.49% of the population is handicapped (National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, 2002).
Population figure for Special Education in Pakistan
7.40% of the handicapped population is deaf. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the general prevalence of disability is 10%, giving Pakistan the appearance of having fewer persons with disabilities. Many parents conceal or reject the presence of impairment in their children (Khatoon, 2003). In Pakistan, Special Education has a relatively new history. At the time of independence, just three schools served students with special needs. The first school was created in 1906 to meet the educational requirements of children with vision impairment. Karachi’s second deaf school opened in 1920.
Parents of deaf children organised the Deaf and Dumb Welfare Society, which also established the Gung Mahal School (Palace of Deaf). At the period, certain non-governmental organisations (NGOs) began to play an active part in the education and rehabilitation of people with disabilities (Hameed, 2003).
Following independence, The National Commission placed special education on the government agenda for the first time in 1959. Progress was made between 1983 and 1992, when the United Nations Organization (UN) recognize this period as the Decade of Disable People. The Pakistan National Policy for Disable Education and Rehabilitation was develop in 1985 and revised in 1988. This strategy was approve by the Pakistani government in October 2002.
A separate federal directorate was established in 1985 to administer model special education institutions across the country. Furthermore, the National Institute of Special Education was founded to give in-service training to special education instructors (Khan, 1998). The Directorate General of Exceptional Education currently oversees 56 facilities dedicated to the education and rehabilitation of children with special needs. The Punjab Government has established a separate Department of Special Education under the direct supervision of the Chief Minister, which operates 48 special schools.
The province government has also recently opened 90 district-level special schools (Bashir, 2005). In Pakistan, 66% of children are enrolled in primary school, leaving 34% uneducated. Children with impairments make up a sizable proportion of this underprivileged group. Six million youngsters are believed to have been exclude from school (Pakistan Ministry of Finance, 2003). According to Hameed (2003), the reasons for such marginalisation include distance from home to school, perceived value of education by the family, gender discrimination in which the son is preferred over the daughter in going to school, poverty, disability, and parents’ lack of knowledge about disability and how to handle it properly. (p. 1) Deaf Individuals’ Education Deaf youngsters have received education.
They are placed in a system that separates them from their non-disable peers. Physical segregation has decreased all opportunities for social engagement, isolating them from the educational and social emotional experiences of hearing children on a daily basis. However, as the globe evolves, the concept of “education for all” in Pakistan is evolving toward a more inclusive education. One of the greatest impediments to inclusive education in Pakistan is a lack of policy initiative (Bashir, 2005). Furthermore, parents and instructors believe that hearing children’s educational achievement and behaviour will suffer as a result of children with special needs diluting the education of their non-disabled children.
In general, both instructors and parents believe that deaf children have poor learning ability (Bashir, 2005). This is why the majority of ordinary schools are hesitant to admit deaf pupils. Teachers and staff at these traditional schools lack the knowledge and resources to manage deaf children in ordinary classes, thus they believe it is the role of special schools to educate deaf children (Bashir,
Accademic Curriculm for Special Education in Pakistan
The deaf children’s special education programme focuses on communication and language skills so that they can participate in the standard curriculum (Khatoon, 2003). Their deaf children’s curriculum is similar to that of general education programmes, but it includes auditory training and speech development programmes. Science, for example, is remove from the curriculum for this set of youngsters. According to Khatoon, just 2% of deaf students and 5% of their parents are happy with the curriculum.Because there are problems in the teaching for hearing impaired children, their concerns parallel those of hearing families. According to Kazimi (2007), it is mostly conventional, dogmatic, and disconnected from the realities of schools.
The focus is on theory rather than real labour. A shift in focus from theory to application of theory in real teaching practises is require. (p.13) As a result, education in general, and education for deaf children in particular, are deemed ineffective in Pakistan at current moment. Approaches to Instruction for Deaf Children In Pakistan, an Aural/Oral technique is used in the classrooms, but in combination with sign language.
Because signs have not been standardise at the national level, Pakistani Sign Language (PSL) differs from place to place. According to Khatoon (2003), the majority of deaf people (72% of the survey).The majority of parents of deaf children (57%) reported that teachers in schools are unable of teaching all courses using PSL. She also stated that 88% of instructors never utilised finger spelling in the classroom and 90% of teachers never used cued speech.