Article of the Week

Few schools, fewer jobs

There may be a plethora of special schools in the city outside, but every ‘special’ person may not be that fortunate. Take the case of Sharad Rastogi. The 18-year-old with hearing impairment. After completing his schooling from a special school, Rastogi could not find a job for himself. With a father (who is a heart patient) to support, the young lad is at the mercy of his younger sister, the only breadwinner in the family.

Sharad is not the only example. Many like him face a tough task looking for a living. Even if the ‘Day of the Deaf’ is celebrated, the authorities, it seems, turn a blind eye to their challenges.

In India, one out of every twenty people is hearing impaired. Despite the fact these children complete their basic education, they still find their future bleak. They are intelligent and creative, but the problem with these children is that they don’t get any exposure,” said R B Tyagi, general secretary, All Indian Deaf and Dumb Society.

Though, the government has kept one per cent quota for the hearing impairment in government jobs and opened schools for them, but many of them don’t have reach to these schools and the youth are still not considered for jobs in the private sector. “There are a few schools catering to the needs of these children. In rural areas and slums, there are no specialist and speech therapists. Because of this the speech part remains suppressed and ultimately become difficult to convince people for jobs,” said KK Handa, associate professior ENT, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Leave behind the employment; even the schools for the deaf are facing a difficult time. Apart from the government–run schools, charitable trusts and NGOs are also involved in teaching such children free of cost, but the trustees find it difficult to collect sufficient funds.

One such charitable trust in Delhi, Pramilabai Chavan School for the deaf is disappointed with the sorry state of the deaf. “We are totally dependent on donations by the people since grants by the government are too little for this school to survive. The lack of funds makes it difficult for us to hire a speech therapist. Most of the children here come from the poor families and slums. At times we have to approach the families to educate their deaf mute children, ”said S.L Porwal, president of the school.

Said Skakuntala Thakur, a teacher at the school, Despite completing their studies successfully, most of the children are sitting idle. Nobody gives them work because they can’t listen, speak and understand. Even at the school, we don’t have anything for them”.

Union ministry of social justice and empowerment claims to be working hard in this regard, they agree with the fact that there is no awareness about the issue. “We are doing our best. We have involved NGOs and private hearing–aid manufacturing companies in championing the cause. But it will take time in achieving success. There is no awareness among people. We have courts where such people can complain if anyone is not giving them a job or humiliating them. But it doesn’t serve the purpose,” said Manoj Kumar, Chief Commissioner of Disability. “There are no trained personnel and ever few vocational centres. Moreover, the HRD ministry should also share some responsibility,” he said.

There are, however, new entrants in providing hearing impaired children with free hearing aids so that these children could do something in future. Starkey Foundation, a US–based NGO has provide hearing aids to around 2,200 children free of cost in various schools all across the country. “This is a sensitive issue and the government seems to be paying little attention towards it. It only boasts about it and doesn’t anything fruitful. We can at least help some little lives listen, and find work,” said Rohit Misra, Managing Director, Starkey Hearing Foundation, New Delhi.

Similarly, Widex India, a company in digital hearing aids, has also donated free hearing aids thousands of special children, “There is a paucity of trained audiologists in the country and there are a few hundred persons who get their degree every year,” said Shakeel Rizvi, Widex India.

Deafness as an ailment has far reaching consequences for the children psychologically. “It reduces their knowledge of the world. It impair their responsibility development,” says Kamlesh Vishnoi, audiologist, Starkey Foundation.

Significantly, an early intervention is needed in providing these children with hearing aids so that they are able to understand sound. “After the age of six it becomes difficult to give speech therapy to the child making him/her understand the sound and fitting in suitable hearing aids,” said Aditi, audiologist, Widex India.

Hearing loss is second only to the arthritis, the most common heath complaint of older patients. “More than one–third hearing loss is attributed to noise, such as loud music, loud workplace or even loud recreational equipment,” said Vishnoi.

Source: Turning a deaf ear. Ashara Time, New Delhi 7–13 October 2007.