WELCOME TO KENTERPRO:
CAUSES OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES TO CHILDREN WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN SPECIAL EDUCATION CENTER, PANKSHIN

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

Everyone has the right to education, says Article 26, section one of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, educating children with disabilities such as children with hearing impairment in Nigeria is not without some challenges. This is because people with special needs strive to survive amid hostile conditions. For a long time in many African countries, persons with disabilities have been marginalized. In some cases, parents regard having such children as a curse (Rukuni 2010). Therefore, one finds that these persons are discriminated against on the job market, in the provision of facilities and programmes meant to uplift their welfare and in educational opportunities. In fact, in some African countries, such as Nigeria, derogatory labels are used to describe these people. In south-west Nigeria, it is not uncommon for local people in rural communities to refer to a person with disability as “abirun”. The word “abirun” connotes a “person who is contagious”. In other words, the person is seen not as carrying a contagious disease, but as being contagious her/himself. No pregnant woman wants to go near a person with disability for fear of having the baby in her womb “infected with disability”. Nobody wants to marry a person with disability because it will mean a perpetuation of disability in their family line. Furthermore, a person with disability is considered too weak and sick to be able to work and make a living. She or he is better off on the street asking for alms from other members of the community in order to survive. Where some families consider it indignity to their societal status to have one of their own as a beggar, they quickly get her or him some menial jobs like fixing bad shoes or bags. Other people with disabilities may not be lucky because they are either poisoned to die or abandoned as destitute to fend for themselves (Nwaogu, 2018).

The issues of persons with hearing impairment in any community or society call for special attention. Special education services, no doubt, provides the best platform to attend to the needs of these persons. The goal of special education services is to equalize for its clients available opportunities in the society. It operates on the philosophy of ‘catch them young’, that is why it starts as soon as a child is detected to have special needs and it pursues this mandate through the early intervention programme (Ozoji, 2005). Many people do not understand persons with disabilities or appreciate them; sometimes they are stereotyped and discriminated against. According to Chukuka (2010), the able-bodied members of the family and community ordinarily consider themselves more privileged and superior to persons with disabilities. The author explains further that exclusion, disregard and hostility become regular reactions toward them. These groups of individuals suffer low or poor self-esteem as a result of the negative attitude of the society towards them and an assumed notion of their inability to meet parental and societal expectations (Eniola, 2017).

            Special education is a specially design instruction that meets the unique needs of a child with disability. Kirk and Gallagher (2012), describe special education as any form of education specially designed for exceptional children. These are children who are not able to respond to and benefit from programmes in regular school and must be given special consideration and assistance. They therefore see special education as those additional services over and above the regular school programme that are provided for exceptional children to assist in the development of their potentialities and or amelioration of their disabilities. In the same vein reported Heward and Orlansky (2012) as saying that special education is designed to respond to the unique characteristics of children who have needs that cannot be met by the regular school instructional programming and practice. According to them, special education is individually planned systematically and carefully evaluated instruction to help exceptional learners achieve the greatest possible personal self-sufficiency and success in present and future environments. Edwen (2015) on the other hand regards special education as those additional services over and above the regular programme that are provided for exceptional children to assist in the development of their potentialities and or the amelioration of their disabilities.

The National Policy on Education (2009) defines special education as additional services over and above the regular school programme that are provided for disabled, disadvantaged and gifted children. Special education service delivery requires the expertise of special educators and Para-professionals like the psychologists, social welfare workers, medical personnel and a host of others who are charged with the delivery of quality special education services to meet the needs of all persons with disability. Qualitative service in special education is gateway to global competitiveness. Special education in the context of its service delivery encompasses assessment and diagnostic measures for purposes of identification of disabling and handicapping conditions; remediation and specialized learning interventions; as well as counseling and evaluation activities for ensuring the efficacy of professional efforts (Shea and Baver, 2014). Unegbu (2016) adds further that special education service delivery refers to the provisions and resources that professionals generate to Advance Special Needs Children (SNC) towards actualization in all its ramifications. In the content of special education programme, many services are earmarked to normalize persons with disabilities to fit in both the public and private sectors. The programme makes it possible for them to adjust from the notion of being unable to carry on societal roles to fully responsible citizens. These services are provided as integral aspects of special education programme geared towards securing an independent and self-reliant existence for persons with disabilities. The efficiency and success of special education is deeply rooted in how effectively it can deliver on these services. There is no gainsaying the fact that special education is a unique system of education that is delicate to operate because of its subjects, expensive and complex to run because it is equipment driven and as well requiring a high level of expertise.  Therefore, it is based on this background that the study seeks to investigate on the prevalence causes of providing Special Education Services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education Center, Pankshin Local Government Area.

• Statement of the Problem

It has been acknowledged that children with hearing impairment encounter major difficulties in achieving their great potentials if the necessary programme are not made available for them and it has been proven that they perform very poorly in English language and mathematics in academic work as it is obvious that most of their teachers are not specialist and therefore do not offer the right kind of educational programme required. Furthermore, most of the educational programmes provided in the schools for the deaf lack the skills of supportive service such as hospital bound instruction required for the exceptional children lack, the itinerant teachers in which special needs children receive specialized additional teaching at certain period by visiting specialist such as speech pathologist, remedial reading teacher. Therefore, the statement of the problem is the study of prevalence causes of special education service on children with hearing impairment in Special Education center, Pankshin.

• Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence causes of Special Education Services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education Center, Pankshin. The specific objectives of the study are:

1. To determine the relevance of Special Education services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education center, Pankshin
2. To identify the challenges facing Special Education services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education center, Pankshin
3. To proffer strategies for improving Special Education services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education center, Pankshin
   • Research Questions
4. What are the relevance of Special Education services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education center, Pankshin?
5. What are the challenges facing Special Education services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education center, Pankshin?
6. What are the strategies for improving Special Education services to children with hearing impairment in Special Education center, Pankshin?
   • Significance of the Study

This research is to be based on the study of special education service in encouraging independent learning, self-actualization and educational development of children with hearing impairment. The study will benefit children with hearing impairment, the teachers, school Administrator and curriculum Planners

It also makes teachers and children beneficiaries through public enlightenment by specialists and the introduction of special education service in schools for the deaf which will be handled by specialist there by making the teachers and children independent and exploring. It is the fact that information or knowledge is power.

The study will enlighten specialist and school administrators to strongly demand for the provision of special education service delivery from the government.

The study will enable curriculum planners and school administrators come together to develop suitable and appropriate curriculum for children with hearing impairment and other special schools to consider and ensure and to emphasis a significant provision of special education service delivery where necessary and appropriate.

1.6       Research Hypothesis

Ho: There is no significant relationship between Special Education services and the academic performance of children with hearing impairment

1.7     Scope of the Study

          The scope of this study will be within the confine to Special Education Center, Pankshin Local Government Area. This study will cover the issues of special education service in the school, the study will carefully consider the school population and mainly focused on special education service in the school and to see how the services provided affect the performance of children with hearing impairment.

• Operational Definition of Terms          

Some of the term used in this study are operationally defines for the purpose of an ordinary readers.

Deafness: Lack of hearing loss.

Hard of Hearing: Hearing impairment that is close but not qualified to be called deafness.

Hearing Impaired: A person with defective hearing which prevent perception of speech sound.

Academic Achievement: The level of educational attainment of the hearing impaired.

Service Delivery: Services that is rendered to the hearing impaired to aid their learning ability.

Academic Performance: To check the strength and weakness of the child.

Special education: is a specially design instruction that meets the unique needs of children with hearing impairment.