Job-oriented: Hearing impaired students at Presidency College.A pilot project by the State government ensured that an academic and a non-academic department came together for a pilot project to provide employment-oriented courses to the hearing impaired.
With the support of the Department of Social Welfare and the Department of College Education, Presidency College. Chennai, launched two undergraduate courses — B.Com. and Bachelor’s in Computer Application.
The funds for conducting the classes are allotted by the Commissioner for the Disabled under the Social Welfare Department and covers staff salary, purchase and maintenance of equipment such as computer and UPS.
The College Education department has been entrusted with designing the curriculum, conducting the examination, and selecting the faculty.
The students are provided scholarship by the Social Welfare Department that covers their hostel fee also.
On completing the course, the students can hope to get jobs such as data entry operators or as front office management staff, says B. Jothi Venkateswaran, head of the MCA department.
The programme, first of its kind experiment, is not without glitches.
While the college has been able to ensure that qualified teachers are posted for the B. Com. course, it has not been easy to find faculty for the BCA course. For the B.Com course, the college has been able to appoint two lecturers with M. Phil degree.
But the BCA course is taught by teachers who are paid wages only for the number of days they work.
“Many of them want to continue their postgraduation but the college does not have the teaching faculty,” says a senior college authority. Those that are teaching currently are doing so out of interest.
BCA faculty N. Vinoth has worked in a mainstream college but agreed to teach at Presidency College because he was more comfortable with the disabled students. Mr. Vinoth’s parents want him to take up a more lucrative job.
V. Radhika is an MCA graduate and a self-taught teacher for the hearing impaired. Her nephew’s disability inspired her to learn the sign language. “I used to help him do his homework. That has helped me to teach them.”
R. SUJATHA
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