Skills Training for Hearing Impaired Students in Higher Learning Technical Institution: Issues and Challenges

Skills Training for Hearing Impaired Students in Higher Learning Technical Institution: Issues and Challenges Professor Dr. Ramlee Mustapha Dean Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education Sultan Idris Education University

Introduction An empirical study by Norani Salleh et al. (1998) found that education and training opportunities for population with special needs in Malaysia are still minimal and the traditional training for individuals with special needs may not be relevant and marketable in today’s new economic environment. To be ready for competitive employment, research has indicated that students with disabilities should be included in vocational programs where appropriate training is provided (Greene et al., 1991; Krajewski & Callahan, 1998; Okolo, 1988; Stodden & Leake, 1994).

Introduction However, many teachers, especially new vocational teachers, are placed in special needs classrooms with little or no pre-service training in special education (Ramlee Mustapha et al., 2002). Studies abound which show that individuals with disabilities have encountered difficulties in seeking employment after completing secondary schools (Tomblin & Haring, 1999). Literature has shown that the special needs individuals often require vocational training in order to be employed.

Introduction There has been some encouraging progress in enhancing job opportunities for people with disabilities in Malaysia. In civil service, 1% employment quota for the disabled has been gazetted since 1988 (Kerajaan Malaysia, 1988). More technical and vocational schools, polytechnics and community colleges are open to special needs learners. Several government agencies and NGOs have been involved in the training and placing of youth and workers with disabilities in the employment sector.

Introduction Manpower Department and Welfare Department have implemented training and placement programs for the disabled individuals. Several companies including multinational companies have hired people with disabilities. However, for the past 13 years (1990 – 2003), less than 5% of the special needs population has been employed in Malaysia (Ramlee Mustapha et. al, 2004).

Who are Special Needs students? According to the Malaysian Ministry of Education, students with special needs are those who are visually handicapped, or partially or fully deaf or suffer from the disability to learn (Akta Pendidikan, 1996). These are the students that have been identified as suffering from physical-sensory deficiencies and learning disabilities. The Ministry of Education provides special education programmes for the three types of disabilities, namely, hearing, visual and learning disabilities.

Challenges Throughout the world, learners who have disabilities and many others who experience difficulties in learning have traditionally been marginalised within or excluded from schools (Ainscow & Haile-Giorgis, 1998). Today, more and more children with special needs are admitted into schools because of the pressures from parents, educators and advocacy groups around the globe. Even though general education is necessary, its conditions are insufficient for population with special needs to obtain jobs.

Objectives of the Study The aim of this small scale case study was to examine the perceptions of the hearing impaired learners regarding tertiary education specifically to technical education in polytechnics. This study involves three main groups of participants: the technical lecturers (N=4), the special education lecturers (N=2) and hearing impaired learners (N=10).

Methodology The study was carried out in two parts. In the first part, the lecturers were interviewed individually and the students were interviewed in groups with the help of the special education lecturers as interpreters. In the second part, observations on how the course was carried out were made in classrooms and workshops. The observations focused among others on the teaching and learning process and facilities provided for the special students.

Results and Discussion • The data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The teaching and learning process: • The teaching and learning process was carried out in classrooms and workshops according to the needs of each subject. Technical lecturers teach in classrooms using teaching aids like transparencies and charts. • Hearing impaired learners follow the lecture either with the help of special education lecturers as interpreters or the content subject lecturers themselves using sign language. • As the hearing impaired learners have different degrees of hearing loss, it is observed that there were cases where those with some degree of hearing would provide help in understanding the lecture to those who are totally deaf. Demonstrations in the workshop were carried out in carefully selected steps and it is found that the technical lecturers often work closely with the students in small groups to ensure that they could master the skills without difficulties. • The technical lecturers: • None of the technical lecturers have any special education qualification. They are lecturers with technical background and are also involved in teaching other courses offered at the polytechnic. Two of them have gone through two-week course of basic sign language prior to the intake of the first batch of the hearing impaired learners. • The technical lecturers raised the issue of communication difficulties with the hearing impaired learners. Lectures and workshops demonstrations need to be carried out at a slower pace with simple and clear terms to accommodate to the learning needs of the learners. To help them in the teaching process, these lecturers use teaching aids and provide simplified notes in the form of handouts. • Most of the technical lecturers show positive attitudes and acceptance of their hearing impaired learners. They found working with these learners challenging but satisfactory. Their hearing impaired learners are keen and highly motivated learners. One lecturer commented “teaching (welding) to the hearing impaired learners is pretty much the same (to the mainstream learners) except for the amount of time spent on providing clear instruction and demonstration.” Cutshall (2001) points out similarly that such attitude is important in teaching the hearing impaired learners to ensure that the learning process takes place appropriately. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers see their roles in the teaching and learning process as the resource person to the hearing impaired learners and to the technical lecturers. During lectures or workshops, they work together with the technical lecturers as (sign language) interpreters. Due to shortage of lecturers who could communicate in sign language, the special education lecturers also teach subjects like Moral Education, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and Computer Application to the hearing impaired students. • The researchers feel that the special education lecturers assume an active role in ensuring the success of the programme for the hearing impaired learners. Apart from being the resource persons, they also undertake the role as consultants to the technical lecturers and the hearing impaired learners. One of the difficulties that these lecturers raised is in terms of having inadequate knowledge and experience in the technical subjects taught to the hearing impaired learners. As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The teaching and learning process: • As the hearing impaired learners have different degrees of hearing loss, it is observed that there were cases where those with some degree of hearing would provide help in understanding the lecture to those who are totally deaf. • Demonstrations in the workshop were carried out in carefully selected steps and it is found that the technical lecturers often work closely with the students in small groups to ensure that they could master the skills without difficulties. • The technical lecturers: • None of the technical lecturers have any special education qualification. They are lecturers with technical background and are also involved in teaching other courses offered at the polytechnic. Two of them have gone through two-week course of basic sign language prior to the intake of the first batch of the hearing impaired learners. • The technical lecturers raised the issue of communication difficulties with the hearing impaired learners. Lectures and workshops demonstrations need to be carried out at a slower pace with simple and clear terms to accommodate to the learning needs of the learners. To help them in the teaching process, these lecturers use teaching aids and provide simplified notes in the form of handouts. • Most of the technical lecturers show positive attitudes and acceptance of their hearing impaired learners. They found working with these learners challenging but satisfactory. Their hearing impaired learners are keen and highly motivated learners. One lecturer commented “teaching (welding) to the hearing impaired learners is pretty much the same (to the mainstream learners) except for the amount of time spent on providing clear instruction and demonstration.” Cutshall (2001) points out similarly that such attitude is important in teaching the hearing impaired learners to ensure that the learning process takes place appropriately. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers see their roles in the teaching and learning process as the resource person to the hearing impaired learners and to the technical lecturers. During lectures or workshops, they work together with the technical lecturers as (sign language) interpreters. Due to shortage of lecturers who could communicate in sign language, the special education lecturers also teach subjects like Moral Education, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and Computer Application to the hearing impaired students. • The researchers feel that the special education lecturers assume an active role in ensuring the success of the programme for the hearing impaired learners. Apart from being the resource persons, they also undertake the role as consultants to the technical lecturers and the hearing impaired learners. One of the difficulties that these lecturers raised is in terms of having inadequate knowledge and experience in the technical subjects taught to the hearing impaired learners. As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The technical lecturers: • None of the technical lecturers have any special education qualification. They are lecturers with technical background and are also involved in teaching other courses offered at the polytechnic. • Two of them have gone through two-week course of basic sign language prior to the intake of the first batch of the hearing impaired learners. • The technical lecturers raised the issue of communication difficulties with the hearing impaired learners. Lectures and workshops demonstrations need to be carried out at a slower pace with simple and clear terms to accommodate to the learning needs of the learners. To help them in the teaching process, these lecturers use teaching aids and provide simplified notes in the form of handouts. • Most of the technical lecturers show positive attitudes and acceptance of their hearing impaired learners. They found working with these learners challenging but satisfactory. Their hearing impaired learners are keen and highly motivated learners. One lecturer commented “teaching (welding) to the hearing impaired learners is pretty much the same (to the mainstream learners) except for the amount of time spent on providing clear instruction and demonstration.” Cutshall (2001) points out similarly that such attitude is important in teaching the hearing impaired learners to ensure that the learning process takes place appropriately. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers see their roles in the teaching and learning process as the resource person to the hearing impaired learners and to the technical lecturers. During lectures or workshops, they work together with the technical lecturers as (sign language) interpreters. Due to shortage of lecturers who could communicate in sign language, the special education lecturers also teach subjects like Moral Education, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and Computer Application to the hearing impaired students. • The researchers feel that the special education lecturers assume an active role in ensuring the success of the programme for the hearing impaired learners. Apart from being the resource persons, they also undertake the role as consultants to the technical lecturers and the hearing impaired learners. One of the difficulties that these lecturers raised is in terms of having inadequate knowledge and experience in the technical subjects taught to the hearing impaired learners. As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The technical lecturers: • The technical lecturers raised the issue of communication difficulties with the hearing impaired learners. Lectures and workshops demonstrations need to be carried out at a slower pace with simple and clear terms to accommodate to the learning needs of the learners. • To help them in the teaching process, these lecturers use teaching aids and provide simplified notes in the form of handouts. • Most of the technical lecturers show positive attitudes and acceptance of their hearing impaired learners. They found working with these learners challenging but satisfactory. Their hearing impaired learners are keen and highly motivated learners. One lecturer commented “teaching (welding) to the hearing impaired learners is pretty much the same (to the mainstream learners) except for the amount of time spent on providing clear instruction and demonstration.” Cutshall (2001) points out similarly that such attitude is important in teaching the hearing impaired learners to ensure that the learning process takes place appropriately. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers see their roles in the teaching and learning process as the resource person to the hearing impaired learners and to the technical lecturers. During lectures or workshops, they work together with the technical lecturers as (sign language) interpreters. Due to shortage of lecturers who could communicate in sign language, the special education lecturers also teach subjects like Moral Education, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and Computer Application to the hearing impaired students. • The researchers feel that the special education lecturers assume an active role in ensuring the success of the programme for the hearing impaired learners. Apart from being the resource persons, they also undertake the role as consultants to the technical lecturers and the hearing impaired learners. One of the difficulties that these lecturers raised is in terms of having inadequate knowledge and experience in the technical subjects taught to the hearing impaired learners. As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The technical lecturers: • Most of the technical lecturers show positive attitudes and acceptance of their hearing impaired learners. They found working with these learners challenging but satisfactory. Their hearing impaired learners are keen and highly motivated learners. • One lecturer commented “teaching (welding) to the hearing impaired learners is pretty much the same (to the mainstream learners) except for the amount of time spent on providing clear instruction and demonstration.” • Cutshall (2001) points out similarly that such attitude is important in teaching the hearing impaired learners to ensure that the learning process takes place appropriately. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers see their roles in the teaching and learning process as the resource person to the hearing impaired learners and to the technical lecturers. During lectures or workshops, they work together with the technical lecturers as (sign language) interpreters. Due to shortage of lecturers who could communicate in sign language, the special education lecturers also teach subjects like Moral Education, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and Computer Application to the hearing impaired students. • The researchers feel that the special education lecturers assume an active role in ensuring the success of the programme for the hearing impaired learners. Apart from being the resource persons, they also undertake the role as consultants to the technical lecturers and the hearing impaired learners. One of the difficulties that these lecturers raised is in terms of having inadequate knowledge and experience in the technical subjects taught to the hearing impaired learners. As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers see their roles in the teaching and learning process as the resource person to the hearing impaired learners and to the technical lecturers. • During lectures or workshops, they work together with the technical lecturers as (sign language) interpreters. Due to shortage of lecturers who could communicate in sign language, the special education lecturers also teach subjects like Moral Education, Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and Computer Application to the hearing impaired students. • The researchers feel that the special education lecturers assume an active role in ensuring the success of the programme for the hearing impaired learners. Apart from being the resource persons, they also undertake the role as consultants to the technical lecturers and the hearing impaired learners. One of the difficulties that these lecturers raised is in terms of having inadequate knowledge and experience in the technical subjects taught to the hearing impaired learners. As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The special education lecturers: • The researchers feel that the special education lecturers assume an active role in ensuring the success of the programme for the hearing impaired learners. • Apart from being the resource persons, they also undertake the role as consultants to the technical lecturers and the hearing impaired learners. One of the difficulties that these lecturers raised is in terms of having inadequate knowledge and experience in the technical subjects taught to the hearing impaired learners. • As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The special education lecturers: • As the resource persons in the technical classes, they feel they have to have the necessary knowledge to ensure they are able to deliver (in sign language) the appropriate technical teaching content. There are no professional courses available to provide for the technical training needed. • On their own initiatives, these lecturers learn the technical subjects by having discussion with the technical lecturers or by reading through the teaching notes for the particular subject. • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The hearing impaired learners: • The hearing impaired learners show positive attitude towards learning. They found that they have no major difficulties in following lectures except in communicating with the technical lecturers. • Apart from the need for interpreters, the teaching aids and handouts used by the technical lecturers are found to be helping the learners in understanding the subject content. • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • b. The Curriculum: • As the course is intended for hearing impaired learners, the curriculum designed for the course takes into account the general performance and academic level of the learners. • As pointed out earlier, the course has three main subject strands: general subjects, core subjects and major subjects. The medium of instruction is in Bahasa Melayu with the exception for Technical English Language. • The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • b. The Curriculum: • The nature of the curriculum is skill-oriented which allows for hands-on experience learning and applied learning environment. It is observed too that the curriculum provides the necessary occupational skills in line with the focus of the course. • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The technical lecturers: • In general, the lecturers agree that the curriculum of the course is suitable for the hearing impaired learners. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it is realistic to the context of the learners and that it is attainable by the learners. • The teaching of the technical subjects involves incorporating the theoretical and practical aspects. The lecturers pointed out that they usually found difficulties in teaching these theoretical aspects. This is due to the difficulties on the learners part to comprehend these aspects. • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • There is no final examination for the all of the subjects offered in the course. The performance of the hearing impaired learners is evaluated by means of tests and practical output. The lecturers agree that having to sit for final examination like the mainstream learners would be too difficult to the hearing impaired learners. • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The special education lecturers: • Both the special education lecturers agree that there should be some modifications to the existing curriculum. They pointed that it should be simpler and more realistic to support the learning needs of the hearing impaired learners. • They added that safety is an important issue which needs to be addressed in the curriculum where heavy machinery is concerned. Such concern is related to the nature of hearing loss that the hearing impaired learners are experiencing. • One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The special education lecturers: • One of the special education lecturers suggested that due to this nature, the learners are more suitable in doing courses related to computers or architectural design. • The hearing impaired learners: • The learners did not provide much feedback in relation to the aspect of curriculum. Most of them agree that the course is suitable for them. • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • c. Resources and facilities: • Availability of resources and facilities is dependent on the needs of the course. It is observed that adequate classroom and workshop facilities are available. The course is conducted within the Mechanical Department. • The technical lecturers: • All of the lecturers agreed that the resources and facilities available are adequate for their teaching needs. They are involved in preparing the learning resources like teaching aids and learning modules. • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The special education lecturers: • The special education lecturers highlight that there need to be improvement in terms of resources and facilities. • One particular aspect that the lecturers pointed out is the alarm facility in the form of light alarms. Increase in the number of these alarms is needed in classrooms, residential rooms and other public places like the library and canteen. The lecturers too feel that there is a need for more resource (special education) lecturers to be placed at the polytechnic as the number of such students is increasing. • The hearing impaired learners • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • Most of the learners are satisfied with the resources and facilities available to them. They depend on their lecturers for their learning resources. They found that the facilities available to them beyond their classroom are adequate to enable them to be independent. • The advancement of technology in communication proves to be an advantage to these learners. Communication between these learners and their lecturers is enhanced by the use of SMS (short messages services) via mobile phones. • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • Equity and accessibility: • The researchers observed that the mechanical maintenance course provides the necessary actual labour market advantage to the hearing impaired learners in relation to job opportunities. • The six weeks industrial placement or training supports this advantage. In addition, it also provides the occupational skills necessary to obtain the jobs in the field of mechanical maintenance. As such, this enables clear pathways to the hearing impaired learners in terms of their career advancement. • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • The special education lecturers: • Although the qualification to apply for the course is not as rigid as for the mainstream courses, there are special requirements that the hearing impaired learners should meet. • The special education lecturers highlight that the learners need to be have the appropriate literacy level to meet the demands of the course. • The hearing impaired learners: • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Results and Discussion • A few of the learners pointed out that the certificate course in machinery maintenance is not their preferred choice of course. They indicated initially they preferred to pursue studies in other areas. • However, limited placement and courses offered at polytechnics did not allow for choices to be made. • Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Implications • Successful transition to from secondary schools to post-secondary institutions is critical for hearing impaired individuals (Evers, 1996). Thus, education is the most important asset for individuals with hearing impairment. • However, generations of hearing impaired children have been and will continue to be “educated” in a system controlled by people who are not hearing impaired and who focuses on deafness as a defect that needs to be fixed. • The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Implications • The system attempts to educate them by using a mainstream language that they neither know fluently and nor can access fully. These generations of deaf children have emerged with poor “language” skills, poor education, poor general knowledge, and poor self-esteem. Thus, it is imperative that hearing impaired learners be provided adequate support services such as: • Interpreters, who can translate lecture into language known to candidates. • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Implications • Counselors, who should be made available to all students to discuss personal, academic, or psychological problems. • Individualised services. Some hearing impaired students seek assistance with class assignments or personal issues that they cannot share with others. • Instructors or lecturers should be trained in basic sign language skills. • Create support groups - support groups can provide support and minimise isolation. Hearing impaired students should be included in mainstream courses along with non-hearing impaired students. • Create pressure group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Implications • Create advocacy group for lobbying. Financial needs can be met when government is forced to spend money on facilities required to ease learning and provide value-added jobs to students. • Conclusionand Recommendations • The programme set up for the hearing impaired students in the polytechnics has provided opportunities for transition to postsecondary education and allowed for increasing number of special needs population in tertiary education. This is consistent with the philosophy of “technical-vocational education for all”. Such a move enhances the chances of the special population being skilled worker, thus reducing the chance of being unemployed. In relation to this, the discussion in this paper has looked into the issues teaching and learning, equity and accessibility, the curriculum and issues of resources and facilities. Understanding of these issues is needed particularly in relation to the technical lecturers and the special education lecturers to ensure success for the programme. The success of hearing impaired learners in the polytechnic depends on several factors such as accessibility, instructional or setting demands, teacher preparation and attitude. • he data from the interviews and observations were analysed and categorised according to the following themes: • The teaching and learning process • The curriculum • Resources and facilities • Equity and accessibility

Skills Training for Hearing Impaired Students in Higher Learning Technical Institution: Issues and Challenges

Skills Training for Hearing Impaired Students in Higher Learning Technical Institution: Issues and Challenges

Presentation Transcript

An overview of developments in vocational and technical education

EDUC8631 Approaches to Research Professor Helen Wildy Dean, Faculty of Education

Vocational and Technical Education : Mexico’s Case

DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS IN TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING :

Ann-Marie Bathmaker , Professor of Vocational and Higher Education

Reformulation of Paradigms in Vocational and Technical Education

Technical Vocational Education

Exploration of Vocational and Technical training

Associate Professor Barney Dalgarno Sub Dean Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Education

Jinn P. Chu Professor and Vice Dean Education

Ghazali Mustapha Faculty of Educational Studies. UPM

Faculty of Health Sciences Professor Hal Kendig Dean

Associate Professor Dr . Khanitta Nuntaboot Dean , Faculty of Nursing Khon Kaen University

Dr. V.B. Mathur Dean, Faculty of Wildlife Sciences

Dr Samantha Twiselton, Executive Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Cumbria March 2011

Associate Professor Jaruphan Supprung Dean of Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts

Dr. Saketha Williams Dean of Adult Education Oconee Fall Line Technical College

Prof. Dr. Shi Weiping Dr. Kuang Ying Institute of Vocational and Technical Education

Ghazali Mustapha Faculty of Educational Studies. UPM

Technical Vocational Education

Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges