Deaf not Dumb: Rethinking Education in Nepal

Neeti Pradhan, Communications Manager CORN

Nisha Khatri, Communications Coordinator CORN

Deaf students in Nepal are fluent in sign language, curious, and eager to learn, yet they’re held back by broken libraries, outdated labs, and a lack of qualified teachers. This feature dives into the classrooms of Nepal’s deaf schools and uncovers the systemic neglect faced by the bahirā community. It challenges harmful labels like lato, and instead, uplifts deaf voices calling for dignity, proper resources, and meaningful reform. As one student put it: "We don’t want sympathy. We want systems that work."

Through personal stories, historical context, and an overview of CORN's efforts to renovate libraries and promote inclusive education, this article urges Nepal to move beyond half-measures and fulfill its promise of equity for all learners.

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The Struggles of Deaf Students

“Mechanic” or “beauty parlour worker”, almost every student gave the same answer when asked about their future dreams. These are dignified professions, no doubt, but it raises a quiet question: are these dreams truly theirs, or simply the only ones they’ve ever seen?

Inside the classrooms of the Central Secondary School for the Deaf in Naxal, students communicate fluently in Nepali Sign Language. Their expressions are vivid, their hands full of voice. The students’ potential is immense, but their aspirations often reflect the limitations of their environment. As the Principal of the Naxal school explains, “We have sign language, yes. But what we lack is quality qualified sign-fluent teachers, subject-specific materials, and environments that empower our students.”

We visited the school while organizing a book donation campaign for Shree Manakamana Deaf Residential School in Gorkha. Unlike many other deaf schools, though the library of the Central Secondary School for the Deaf in Naxal is functional, the challenges lie elsewhere. Most classrooms lack the necessary resources, and many teachers still don’t know sign language. We were reminded that access alone is not enough, support must be comprehensive.

From Social Stigma and Institutional Discrimination

Nepali Sign Language, developed in 1998, marked a crucial milestone for deaf education. Yet language alone hasn’t dismantled the barriers

The challenge runs deeper than infrastructure. For generations, terms like lato meaning “deaf and dumb”  have reinforced dangerous misconceptions, suggesting intellectual deficiency rather than simply hearing difference. Nepal’s deaf community has fought to reclaim their identity through the word bahirā not just describing hearing loss, but celebrating a rich linguistic and cultural identity.

This struggle for recognition plays out in devastating ways. Despite Nepal’s five percent disability employment quota, deaf individuals face systematic discrimination during job searches, with little support through interpreters or inclusive hiring practices.

The irony is stark: many of Nepal’s first deaf schools were founded by the bahirā community themselves, not the state. Yet decades later, the system continues to fail them.

These aren’t just stories about broken libraries or outdated labs. They represent a fundamental violation of educational rights. When deaf students cannot access proper learning spaces, when their teachers lack sign language fluency, when their potential is constrained by crumbling infrastructure the entire society loses.

A Vision of Coexistence and CORN said Yes.

True inclusion means creating a society where deaf and hearing communities coexist as equals, where sign language is valued alongside spoken Nepali, where deaf professionals are seen in every sector, where accessibility is built into systems from the ground up, not added as an afterthought.

Calls Over Ridges Nepal (CORN) has made a strong commitment to supporting deaf students, even without prior expertise in deaf education.

Despite lacking specific experience, CORN took immediate action, inspired by the success of deaf professionals worldwide¹, showing that great achievement is possible for anyone. CORN truly believes students thrive if they are given an essential education to environments that support them. 

Make the Library a Living, Breathing Learning Space

Real change requires more than good intentions, it demands structural transformation. This means investing in sign-fluent teacher training, creating accessible learning materials, building functional libraries and labs, and dismantling discriminatory hiring practices.

Shree Manakamana Deaf Residential School homes to 132 students from across 11 districts of  Gandaki Province, the library and science lab haven’t functioned for over five years, and students describe these spaces as “too smelly to stand in.” A computer lab exists with a single AVR system, it remains largely unused. Meanwhile, most troubling of all: this school is considered a model institution in its region. If this represents the best, what does average look like for Nepal’s deaf students?

CORN’s “Book Donation and Library Renovation Campaign”  aims to make the library a “living, breathing learning space”. At Shree Manakamana Deaf Residential School, the initiative involves transforming the defunct library into a vibrant learning space where over 30 students can study together, teachers can facilitate small group discussions, and students and teachers can explore beyond their textbooks.

The intervention extends beyond infrastructure. CORN is implementing library management systems, developing teaching support materials for inclusive education, providing professional development resources for staff, and creating a comprehensive year-round activity calendar. This includes STEM workshops for hands-on learning, Sign Language Month with vocabulary games and guest deaf role models, DIY learning aids and vocational skills training, and a kitchen garden project teaching sustainability. 

The activities also highlight what should already exist in every school serving deaf students. The fact that such basic educational resources require external intervention exposes the depth of systemic neglect. The government must recognize that deaf education isn’t a charity case, it’s a constitutional obligation. Every closed library, every broken lab, every unqualified teacher represents a failure to uphold the basic rights of Nepal’s deaf citizens.

The Path Forward: Comprehensive Deaf Education Reform

This simple request, for qualified, caring teachers shouldn’t be revolutionary. Yet in Nepal’s current system, it remains largely unfulfilled.

The solution isn’t complex, but it requires political will. Nepal needs comprehensive deaf education reform: adequate funding for infrastructure, mandatory sign language training for teachers, accessible curriculum materials, and enforcement of inclusive employment policies. Most importantly, it requires listening to the deaf community itself. They know what they need. They’ve been advocating for decades. The question is whether Nepal’s leaders are ready to hear them.

“We don’t want to be called lato anymore,” said a deaf teacher. “We’ve always been bahirā; capable, curious, and ready to thrive. We just need a system that lets us.“

Until every deaf student can sit in a functional library, ask questions in their own language, and dream without limits, Nepal hasn’t lived up to its promise of inclusive education. The time for half-measures and empty promises has passed.

The Bahirā community is ready to thrive. The question is: Is Nepal ready to let them? 

Nisha Khatri

1. Inspiration from Deaf Professionals 
   The decision to move past their inexperience is driven by the belief that deaf students can achieve any goal, exemplified by professionals like:
   Dr. Frank Hochman: The first born-Deaf American to complete medical training and become a physician.
   Johanna Lucht: A Systems II Engineer at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center who was the first deaf engineer to carry out an active role in a NASA control center during a crewed research flight.
   
   These individuals are part of a larger group of deaf leaders and innovators who have excelled in their fields, including:
   Marlee Matlin: Academy Award-winning actress and advocate.
   Nyle DiMarco: Model, actor, and activist, winner of America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars.
   Claudia Gordon: The first deaf African-American female attorney to graduate from law school and a disability rights advocate who served in the Obama administration.
   Thomas Edison: Prolific inventor who was hard of hearing and deaf in one ear.
   Ludwig van Beethoven: One of the greatest composers in history who created some of his most famous works while profoundly deaf. ↩︎