Plan for university for the deaf criticised

The Guardian Nigeria 05 October 2019

The Nigerian federal government, in partnership with Gallaudet University in the United States, among other stakeholders, is planning to establish a university for the deaf in Nigeria. But experts in the teaching industry feel that the project is another misconceived priority at this point in time, writes Ujunwa Atueyi for The Guardian Nigeria.

As good as this project might appear owing to its ability to spark increased awareness of the challenges of deaf education and other issues affecting the physically-challenged as well as their civil rights, experts expressed doubts that government is going about it the right way. They submitted that in other countries, leaders are developing strategies to integrate the disabled into the mainstream and give them a sense of belonging, rather than isolating them. They also said the move will amount to a waste of huge resources that will benefit only the few championing the project.

Rather than establish a new university, they advised that government should strengthen the existing special units in universities; create more robust centres in top universities in each geopolitical zone for a wider reach; and find out the challenges affecting deaf education and address them.
Full report on The Guardian Nigeria site

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