Pakistan Distance-Learning Topic Brief: Primary-level Deaf Children

The COVID-19 crisis has severely impacted the ability of national education actors to provide access to education services for all students. At the peak of the crisis, schools were closed in more than 190 countries and approximately 1.5 billion learners were affected. Countries have quickly responded to this crisis, leveraging print, radio, television, phones and online tools to support learning. 

This brief provides guidance and recommendations on how to support the education of deaf children in Pakistan using alternative learning approaches. It presents the rationale for adopting certain teaching and learning strategies when supporting the learning and well-being of deaf children during global uncertainty. Children with deafness and hearing loss are particularly vulnerable now that schools are closed. They are isolated at home and unable to access information as easily as when they were attending school. This brief presents some of the practices that are reportedly working well for deaf children in different contexts.