National Institute of Speech and Hearing for special students a non-starter

KOZHIKODE: The National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH), Thiruvananth-apuram, that was touted to be the first national university in the country, developed exclusively for the higher education of special students, has hit a roadblock from the Central government. Announced in the 2015 Budget, the director said no notification has yet reached the institute on its functioning, aimed at the students and the trainers. NISH executive director Dr Samuel N. Mathew feels that if the government approves the fund by at least the Winter Session of Parliament, they would be able to start the courses by the next academic year.

The institute would have training for the special students in higher education as well as training for their teachers. “Quality institutions for the special children are yet to become a priority for the government. Though they are announced, there needs to be constant pressure to follow up on the issue. Once the zero year works are done for the institute, things would be easy to follow-up for the first year,” said Mr Mathew.

The NISH Online Interactive Disability Awareness seminar had won acclaim from parents of the special kids, who are allowed to participate in ‘webinars’ online. Applications were invited for admission to various graduate and PG courses for the year 2015-16. Another course offered was diploma in Early Childhood Special Education (DECSE) exclusively for hearing-impaired students.