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Blind students in ordinary school

The Young Reporter (1995, January 19), 27(04), pp. 7.
Author: Cecilia Chow.
Permanent URL - https://sys01.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/bujspa/purl.php?&did=bujspa0002126

By CECILIA CHOW

The principles of “All men being equal” and “Help and love each other” have been actualized by students in Lutheran Middle School with blind students have integrated into the school since 1980.

“Many students are willing to help blind students with things they need, such as telling them what is written on the blackboard,” Ms Kwong Yee-sze said, a History teacher in the school.

“Other students tell them the questions of tests and give them a signal when they have to move to another place.”

“In my experience, I find no case of blind students being discriminated against and segregated.”

Another teacher, Ms Wendy Leung Wai-yin, said that all students can learn a positive “lesson” through the school’s policy of enrolling blind students.

“Students can also learn that our society is not perfect and everyone has to help others to cope with their problems,” Ms Leung said.

Three blind students, Tang Ping- yip, Yim Mei-mei and Kittiladawan William Chan said that they worried about their difficulty to adapt to a normal school life at first, but they can solve their physical problem with help from their teachers and classmates.

“Being active is the secret to gain their friendship,” they said, “if we do not tell them what we need and want, they don’t know how to help and communicate with us.”

Besides getting help from them, the blind students treasure their opportunity to study in school. “They are hardworking and attentive on their studies,” Ms Leung said.

Tang Ping-yip, who got two As and two Bs in 1993 HKCEE, is a good example; he was one of the top students in Lutheran Middle School last year.

He proved that blind students can have the same ability as normal students. His classmates and other students also admire his positive character.

Though the school treats the blind students as equal and gives them the same opportunities, they still face difficulties that other students cannot imagine. Their main pressure comes from worrying about their prospects.

“Since we cannot see anything, employers are not willing to employ us even if we are hardworking and have good academic qualifications,” Yim said.

Tang said that school and society are two different environments. Many employers do not understand the need and ability of blind students. They also doubt whether they are reliable and capable of dealing with a job.

The Principal of Lutheran Middle School, Mr John Wu Man-keung, also understands their situation as he had heard of difficulties of some graduates.

“One of the graduates in our school obtained a degree with honours in Hong Kong University but he couldn’t find any job. At last, he did nothing but just seeking a job from his former school, Ebenezer School or Home for the Blind,” Mr John Wu said.

“It seems to be the fate of the blind to work in lower ranks,” he said sadly.

In 1978, Rev. K. L. Stumpf, new School Supervisor of Lutheran Middle School and also the Director of the Society for the Blind, understood the need of blind students and thought that they could be integrated into normal schools like normal students.

“Since he had a close relationship with the Ebenezer School and Home for the Blind, he first suggested to transfer blind students to normal schools rather than special education institutions,” Mr Wu added.

Although Mr Wu supports the policy of integrating blind students into normal school and wants to enrol more students, he explains that they have difficulties in doing so.

“For us, the teachers have to prepare notes, test and examination papers earlier since these paper works have to be sent to Ebenezer School for translating from Braille, words for the blind, to normal words and vice versa. This does increase the workload of both teachers,” he said.

“Moreover, we have to employ more teachers to teach them,” Ms Chong agreed, “otherwise, the burden of current teachers would be very heavy.”

In fact, all blind students hope that they can have an equal chance to develop their ability not only in Lutheran Middle School but also in other schools and in society.

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