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Hard work, determination and support can help overcome disabilities
By Heba Elayyan, Jordan News
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Islam Jdou just graduated with a PhD in special education
from the University of Jordan, the first deaf person to ever attain such a
degree in the country, marking an important milestone for students with hearing
loss.اضافة اعلان
Now she works for the Greater Amman Municipality, in the technology center for the deaf.
Jordan University has 52 students with different degrees of hearing impairment enrolled at several faculties; interpreters and sign language experts help them navigate the courses, according to Ghada Hamad, director of Students Counseling Department at UJ.
According to Hamad, deaf students who do not master the spoken language communicate through sign language, while students with different degrees of hearing impairment rely on hearing aids. This in no way affects their academic performance, she said.
Since students with hearing loss suffer from a language problem as a result of their reliance on sign language, it is difficult for them to enroll in Arabic or English majors. They usually prefer majors that do not contain static linguistic texts; for example, sports, arts, IT, and educational sciences, said Hamad.
The University of Jordan provides a package of services to people with disabilities.
“When students enter the university for the first time, we do orientation, familiarizing them with the university life, with what the most important facilities, such as admission, financial, registration, restaurants, colleges, halls are,” Hamad said.
The university offers students with special needs a special discount on tuition fees: 90 percent for master and PhD degrees in the competitive program and 75 percent in the parallel program, as per the laws of the Ministry of Higher Education, added Hamad.
Islam Jdou
These students also benefit from services like early registration for academic subjects and 50 percent more exam time “because we know the interpreter needs time to translates during the exam”, Hamad said, adding that interpreters help “during lectures, exams, and whenever they need to be provided with a service by the university”.
According to Rania Ali, a sign language interpreter at the University of Jordan, there are 10 interpreters at the university; some are employed by the university, and others are hired through the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The council is the place for anyone with a disability to turn to, as it provides interpreters, devices, and hearing aids, Ali said. It provides interpreters to universities where there is not a large population of deaf students; a request is submitted by students with hearing impairment, and the council provides interpreters, according to Ali.
In specializations that require high Tawjihi (general secondary education certificate examination) scores, the Ministry of Higher Education, in cooperation with the council, accepts students with a Tawjihi score of 65 and up to enroll in universities.
Hanen Ali, one of the students with hearing loss who studies at University of Jordan, said that the success rate of deaf students in Tawjihi is very low because of the challenging curricula and the reliance on teachers specialized in teaching deaf students, with no possibility of taking private lessons.
The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been asking for special curricula for the deaf, but so far nothing has happened, as changing the syllabi requires long periods of time, especially since there is a need for experts with hearing loss to help create suitable curricula, Ali added.
“Tawjihi curricula are difficult for students with no disabilities, so how are they for students with special needs?” said Jdou, adding that she was able to reach where she is “because of my ambition and my family and school support”.
According to Jdou, the percentage of people with hearing disabilities applying for universities is increasing every semester because deaf people encourage each other, and those in university motivate younger students to pass the Tawjihi.
“People with disabilities face many societal challenges. Everyone around me said that I would not be able to obtain a doctorate because of my disability, but I succeeded and now everyone is proud of what I have achieved,” Jdou said.
Read more Features
Now she works for the Greater Amman Municipality, in the technology center for the deaf.
Jordan University has 52 students with different degrees of hearing impairment enrolled at several faculties; interpreters and sign language experts help them navigate the courses, according to Ghada Hamad, director of Students Counseling Department at UJ.
According to Hamad, deaf students who do not master the spoken language communicate through sign language, while students with different degrees of hearing impairment rely on hearing aids. This in no way affects their academic performance, she said.
Since students with hearing loss suffer from a language problem as a result of their reliance on sign language, it is difficult for them to enroll in Arabic or English majors. They usually prefer majors that do not contain static linguistic texts; for example, sports, arts, IT, and educational sciences, said Hamad.
The University of Jordan provides a package of services to people with disabilities.
“When students enter the university for the first time, we do orientation, familiarizing them with the university life, with what the most important facilities, such as admission, financial, registration, restaurants, colleges, halls are,” Hamad said.
The university offers students with special needs a special discount on tuition fees: 90 percent for master and PhD degrees in the competitive program and 75 percent in the parallel program, as per the laws of the Ministry of Higher Education, added Hamad.
Islam Jdou
These students also benefit from services like early registration for academic subjects and 50 percent more exam time “because we know the interpreter needs time to translates during the exam”, Hamad said, adding that interpreters help “during lectures, exams, and whenever they need to be provided with a service by the university”.
According to Rania Ali, a sign language interpreter at the University of Jordan, there are 10 interpreters at the university; some are employed by the university, and others are hired through the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The council is the place for anyone with a disability to turn to, as it provides interpreters, devices, and hearing aids, Ali said. It provides interpreters to universities where there is not a large population of deaf students; a request is submitted by students with hearing impairment, and the council provides interpreters, according to Ali.
In specializations that require high Tawjihi (general secondary education certificate examination) scores, the Ministry of Higher Education, in cooperation with the council, accepts students with a Tawjihi score of 65 and up to enroll in universities.
Hanen Ali, one of the students with hearing loss who studies at University of Jordan, said that the success rate of deaf students in Tawjihi is very low because of the challenging curricula and the reliance on teachers specialized in teaching deaf students, with no possibility of taking private lessons.
The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been asking for special curricula for the deaf, but so far nothing has happened, as changing the syllabi requires long periods of time, especially since there is a need for experts with hearing loss to help create suitable curricula, Ali added.
“Tawjihi curricula are difficult for students with no disabilities, so how are they for students with special needs?” said Jdou, adding that she was able to reach where she is “because of my ambition and my family and school support”.
According to Jdou, the percentage of people with hearing disabilities applying for universities is increasing every semester because deaf people encourage each other, and those in university motivate younger students to pass the Tawjihi.
“People with disabilities face many societal challenges. Everyone around me said that I would not be able to obtain a doctorate because of my disability, but I succeeded and now everyone is proud of what I have achieved,” Jdou said.
Read more Features