ZDDT Appeal for Gweru's school for the hard-of-hearing that Zimbabwe can be incredibly proud of
Gweru, Bulawayo. Jairos Jiri Naran Centre was established in 1968 by the Naran Family of Kwekwe, which then donated it to the Jairos Jiri Association.
It was set up with the sole intention of assisting the marginalised community of the deaf, to have a fair and equal access to quality education.
The association had a vision of establishing a resource centre for this special group of people. It gives testing services, among other facilities, to the deaf and enrols children from the length and breadth of the country. It started operating as a school in 1968.
The school, which is situated 5km from the city centre in the heart of Ascot Township, was initially a T.B. Convalescent Centre.
This institution functions as a primary school, with proper infrastructure to capacitate these children of special needs with a conducive learning environment. The 22 classrooms are fitted with acoustic materials to deter excessive sound from outside, which would interrupt the teaching and learning process.
The school has a boarding facility and is currently host to 161 pupils, 76 of which are girls. At full capacity, the Centre caters for 250 students at any given time. 14 dormitories, a modern kitchen and a dining hall make up the complex. Most of these buildings were built in 1957, when the institution was established.
The basis of teaching is the national curriculum with an emphasis on sign language, hence the adoption of the national sign language syllabus. Zimbabwe is distinct in this respect.
A few years ago, the Centre launched an integration exercise in order to fight stigma and discrimination by some elements of the community. After completing their primary level education, the institution ensures a swift transition to higher learning by assisting the pupils to acquire places at near-by secondary schools.
“Our programme runs from Pre-School or ECD up to grade 7. Thereafter, our children are integrated for Secondary school education. For example, we have got five students going across the durawall to Ascot High and some are attending Mambo High less than a kilometre from here. We also have some pupils who are learning in near-by primary schools for integration,” said the Headmaster, Mr Ishmael Marowa.
Apart from adhering to the national theoretical curriculum, Jairos Jiri Naran Centre has an extensive range of practical subjects, as it also strongly believes in self help and sustainable economic growth through manual or practical skills. These subjects encompass metal fabrication, fashion and fabrics, carpentry and animal husbandry in small livestock.
Vast knowledge in these areas of study is imparted to the pupils, who produce state-of-the-art final products in their respective disciplines. The teacher to child ratio is maintained at 7:1 in order to enhance a more personal relationship.
The Centre also offers other packages to the Zimbabwean community, either on a charity basis or as a way of augmenting its revenue flow in order to enhance service delivery in its core business.
It offers hearing levels tests to people from various sectors. For instance; “a number of mining companies send their workers to get tested when preparing retirement packages and so forth” said Mr Marowa.
As is the case with almost all institutions of this nature in the country, Jairos Jiri Naran Centre in Gweru, is faced with a plethora of challenges emanating from financial constraints. These perpetually hinder the Institution from operating efficiently and effectively.
Mr Marowa said most of the infrastructure and equipment is slowly becoming old and obsolete respectively. He said the buildings need face-lifting, in order to restore the institution to become an enabling environment for the pupils and the staff. Most, if not all, of the buildings were donated by charity organisations such as Rotary Club International, Save The Children Trust and C.B.M.
The centre operates a mini clinic for periodically attending to the pupils and other members of society who live with the same disability. In this regard, the institution is in dire need of assistive devices, which include hearing aids for the pupils, audiometers, speech trainers and computers to equip the Computer Laboratory.
The school also conducts occasional outreach programmes to scout for potential students, but it now falls short in effectively conducting this exercise, due to lack of necessary resources.
Jairos Jiri Naran Centre has so far had a close relationship with ZDDT, as Midlands Voluntary Provincial Development Officer, Denny Munetsi, has in the past garnered the support of the community to conduct cleaning campaigns in the school. They planted flowers and mowed grass that was growing excessively.
Please get in touch with the ZDDT office if you are able to assist the centre: