Inclusive Education for Students with Hearing Impairmentin Pakistan: Communication & Socialization Challenges at Higher Education

Abstract

Inclusive higher education is a way to protect the academic rights of young students with hearing impairment. Multiple challenges faced by students with hearing impairment (SWHI) at the higher education institutes (HEIs) affect the inclusive higher education in Pakistan. This study used a questionnaire to explore the challenges faced during communication and socialization by SWHI in the HEIs.Inclusion in Pakistan's HEIs is a recent phenomenon for all persons with hearing impairment (HI); however, HEIs are not wholly prepared to meet this challenge. Studies reported that SWHI face multiple problems in HEIs worldwide during admission, learning, social adjustment, and assessment. There are a few HEIs in Punjab, Pakistan offering admission to SWHI. So, it is highly desirable to highlight the opinion of teachers and students about the communication and socializationproblems of SWHIin these HEIs. Descriptive research method was used to collect data from 48 teachers and 246 SWHI studying in the HEIs ofPunjab, Pakistan. Census sampling technique was used to gather the data; moreover, the differences in the opinions of teachers and students were measured using the t-test. The findings of the study highlighted that SWHI enrolled in various programs facecommunication and socialization problems, such as the non-availability of sign interpreters and note-takers and the lack of direct communication with teachers.