Deaf Teachers Association of Nigeria (DTAN), in its bid to advance the intellectual capacities of deaf children in Nigerian schools recently organized a virtual National Quiz Competition for Deaf students in Senior Secondary Schools. Among the participants were eighteen (18) students from nine different schools.
At the end of the competition, both first position and second runner-up were taken by students of Government School For the Deaf, Malumfashi. St. Peters School Abeokuta, Ogun state came third placed.
In an interview with Inclusive News Network, a Deaf teacher at St. Peters School Abeokuta, Mr. Olalekan Mohammed, lauds DTAN for initiating an inclusion spark for equal access to evaluation for Deaf students just like their hearing counterparts. Meanwhile, he urged the Association to include deaf learners at primary and Junior levels in the National Quiz Competition. This, he said would allow room for early discovery of future Deaf scholars. “Let’s catch the gifted through early talent hunt.” He enthused.
Asked what coming 3rd place in the competition means for his school, Mohammed said, “it is an indication of our consistency in the provision of quality and standard education for Deaf students in Ogun State”.
“If you recall we are the defending champion. We are still rated among the best three Deaf Secondary Schools. We are still on course and have offered more motivation to the students. They can do better than they have already done. We are always committed to giving our students the best pedagogy they deserve.” Mohammed also appreciated the sponsors of the event.
A teacher of Government School for the Deaf Malumfashi, Katsina State, Mr. Usman Ibrahim urged DTAN to prioritize prize giving for the competition based on competitors positions.
According to him, our school had given the students enough coaching, prepared in-house quiz competition amongst others. Everyone including myself was encouraged and the expectations for prizes were high.
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For Ibrahim, it was the first time the school had won such prize but he was discouraged by the prize arrangements.
A disgruntled Ibrahim couldn’t understand why 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed participants received same prizes. “That discouraged me. What’s more, it can also discourage the students from future participation.”
“To encourage them better, prizes should be prioritized based on positions”.
He recommended that the next quiz competition shouldn’t be virtual. Even if it will be virtual, system trials should be deployed before the date of the competition to avoid a repeat of what happened earlier.
“There is supposed to be google form to submit online and get the result instantly”.
Chairperson of the quiz competition, Mrs. Oyeleke Bernice confirms awarding #5,000 each to the first eight students who made the pass mark.
Explaining her reasons, she said “We looked at those that made the pass mark of 40% and above.
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“The DTAN President made it clear that the aim of the Competition is more about broadening their learning experience than just winning. Hence we decided to stretch the prizes to reach as many as hit the pass mark.”
Mrs. Oyeleke stressed that the Deaf Teachers Association had, at the maiden physical event held in 2018, received welcome responses. Since then the group has made efforts to hold another edition. This however proved unsuccessful for various reasons.
The introduction of virtual competition seems to have changed all that. Some 90% success rate in terms of attendance by schools which registered was recorded. Furthermore, a good number of the schools caught up fast with the new media.
Bernice further noted that since one of the challenges encountered in organizing a physical competition is finance, the virtual approach makes sense as it costs far less.
“Other challenges of the physical competition include transporting deaf minors from different regions of the country to the venue. We all know this isn’t easy. A virtual competition has taken care of that. And that was another motive for holding a virtual competition.
“With the pandemic situation forcing more people to go online, DTAN got more exposed to latest technologies, and in the process, garnered more ideas on how to hold a competition of this nature”.
Oyeleke noted that the event ended successfully as the organizers kept adjusting to meet everyone’s needs.
“It is our hope that a virtual competition will expose our Deaf students to online learning and help them stay abreast of latest trends in technology like the rest of the world” She said.
1 comment
This is a great welcome development for the deaf students to participate from Primary and Junior Secondary categories. It has been my concerning every section participate quiz competition which will help deaf teachers to discover their field talent preparing for future careers relevancy._____Tr David Adekunle, Ogun State Dtan chairman and, St Peter’s College Olomore Abeokuta, Ogun State.