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Integrated Educational Facilities in Nepal Table 2. Rural versus Urban Characteristics of Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments a Variables Observations Mean the home. In Nepal, the workforce is dominated by men in general. Thus, teaching, particularly teaching students with disabilities, has not yet been subject to the ‘‘woman’s role’’–style gender stereotyping that has come to pass in other countries. To explain the disparity in numbers of urban versus rural schools, it could be postulated that the government of Nepal and other nongovernmental organizations have targeted rural areas. The prevalence of Nepali braille teaching is unsurprising, given that mastering its use is the prerequisite for students to move into integrated courses. However, no official statistics are kept on the braille literacy rates of students with visual impairments, either in Nepali or in English braille. Finally, the result of the comparison of teachers’ training histories supports the null hypothesis that existing TVIs are sound in terms of their qualifica- Standard Error t Value Accepted Hypothesis Age Rural 32 40.063 1.465 22.131** Rural , urban Urban Years of schooling 18 45.167 1.846 Rural 31 12.677 0.400 22.042** Rural , urban Urban Teaching license 18 14.056 0.557 Rural 32 0.969 0.031 1.194 Urban Years of teaching experience 17 0.882 0.081 Rural 30 15.267 1.524 21.533* Rural , urban Urban Training Nepali and English braille 17 19.176 2.060 Rural 32 0.656 0.085 20.201 Urban Orientation and mobility 19 0.684 0.110 Rural 32 0.594 0.088 20.636 Urban Independent living skills 19 0.684 0.110 Rural 32 0.406 0.088 21.563* Rural , urban Urban 19 0.632 0.114 a Null hypothesis is ‘‘Rural 5 Urban.’’ * Significant at 10 percent; ** significant at 5 percent; *** significant at 1 percent. 38 | AER Journal: Research and Practice in Visual Impairment and Blindness tions and experience. However, training programs for TVIs are still not widely enough available to ensure that every teacher has the full skill set they need. Interviews with TVIs In the interviews, specific questions about resources available to TVIs and students with visual impairments were addressed. In resource classes, students are generally taught both Nepali and English braille, social interaction skills, O&M, ILS, and basic mathematics including Nemeth code. Resource rooms were equipped with Perkins braillers, slates, styluses, and tape recorders. Typically, TVIs needed to use the same equipment to prepare lesson materials and textbooks in braille; therefore, with the exception of slates and styluses, schools were not able to offer this equipment to students with visual impairments for their individual
Table 3. Rural versus Urban School Characteristics a Variables Observations Mean use. Furthermore, none of the schools that participated in the interview had computer facilities available to their students with visual impairments. All the TVIs who were interviewed found mathematics, particularly geometry, and science subjects in which picture-based problems are often used difficult to teach, as they lacked both the techniques and the technology to deal with students with visual impairments’ needs. Sometimes the needs of students with visual impairments exceeded that which could be provided by integrated classroom teachers. Although there are no hard-and-fast rules about how to deal with this problem, from interviews it became apparent that informal counseling and cooperation between TVIs and subject teachers does take place. According to the teachers interviewed, at their schools there were no provisions for students with Integrated Educational Facilities in Nepal Standard Error t Value Accepted Hypothesis No. of teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) Rural 28 1.536 0.150 21.647* Rural , urban Urban 17 2.059 0.326 No. of students with visual impairments Rural 30 8.633 1.942 21.702** Rural , urban Urban 19 16.421 4.885 Rate of TVIs per students with visual impairments Rural 28 0.668 0.109 2.025** Rural . urban Urban Taught activities Nepali braille 17 0.349 0.094 Rural 32 0.875 0.059 1.672* Rural . urban Urban Orientation and mobility 19 0.684 0.110 Rural 32 0.063 0.043 1.103 Urban Independent living skills 19 0.000 0.000 Rural 32 0.594 0.088 0.102 Urban Exams in braille 19 0.579 0.116 Rural 30 1.600 0.123 1.579* Rural . urban Urban 19 1.263 0.185 a Null hypothesis is ‘‘Rural 5 Urban.’’ * Significant at 10 percent; ** significant at 5 percent; *** significant at 1 percent. visual impairments to take exams in braille. Survey results indicated that some schools were able to administer exams in braille, but this was rare. In schools where exams could not be arranged in braille, students with visual impairments would have to make answers orally after being read the exam questions by an assistant, who would then transcribe the answers on the exam sheet. This is a great barrier to students with visual impairments’ education, particularly in subjects that pose significant difficulties to begin with, such as mathematics, science, and foreign languages. Limitations of the Study In this nationwide survey, it was encouraging to garner responses from 71.23 percent of the schools that were solicited (52 out of 73 total schools in Nepal). In terms of statistical analysis, the sample Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2010 | 39
Page 1 and 2: Association for Education and Rehab
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Page 7: Table of Contents From the Editor 3
Page 10 and 11: International Research Report A Com
Page 12 and 13: Integrated Educational Facilities i
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Page 18 and 19: Vision, Posture, and Ageing head in
Page 20 and 21: Vision, Posture, and Ageing down an
Page 22 and 23: Vision, Posture, and Ageing Duffy,
Page 24 and 25: Dr. Susan Ponchillia accomplished w
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Page 28 and 29: N Moving Toward Literacy: Increasin
Page 30 and 31: N VIPS@Home Parent University Serie
Page 32 and 33: N Tactile Graphics? Relax. Seriousl
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