Challenges and prospects of mainstreaming children with hearing impairments in attaining education for all

The thought of integration of students with disability in to regular educational system has old history even though there is no clear vision of why, when and how it applies in the schools of our country. Since this integration needs well organized educational delivery system, the challenges one can observe in the regular education has to get resolved based on relevant evidences supported by scrutinized study. Consequently, this study was designed to investigate the challenges children with hearing impairments face in the integrated classes. The method employed in the study was descriptive and qualitative in nature. The populations of the study were students and family of the hearing impaired children selected employing availability and purposive sampling technique. Instruments used for data collection were interview, focus group discussion and observation done at natural settings. Special education teachers also participate in the study. The results drawn from data shows that most of the students are post-lingually deaf who never benefit from oral presentation/ lecture/. The school, municipality/social affair/ and education offices have no idea about education of these children except reporting their statistics. Lack of willingness to cooperate with schools on the parents’ side; lack of awareness about disability on the community viewpoint; and unclear directives regarding the child’s education made the problem more intricate. Based on the results obtained from the schools: assignment of interpreters and training of the teachers in the integrated classes are recommended as immediate solutions while availability of detailed educational policy towards education of children with disabilities; awareness creation for the community and responsible bodies; and assignment of professionals at government and non-government organizations further assist in resolving the challenges these children faces in augmenting their education in the education for all realm.