About Kaunas Educational Centre for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing
Kaunas Educational Centre for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing is situated in the middle of Lithuania. The Centre is a compulsory school for the deaf and hard of hearing pupils who use sign language or spoken language.
Kaunas Educational Centre for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing was founded in 1939. Now there are 69 students. Our pupils come from different parts of Lithuania and they are at age from 7 to 18, representing from Preparatory up to the 10th grades at school. They live in the boarding house; on weekends and for holidays children go home to their parents.
The school provides pre-primary, general primary and basic education for its pupils meeting their general and special needs, educational tendencies. Oral method and the method of Total Communication are applied in the educational process.
Besides the General curriculum Deaf and Hard of hearing pupils are taught following special subjects: Lithuanian sign language, Educational practical activity, Eurhythmics, Pronunciation, language and hearing training. Significant attention is paid to the education of literacy and ICT skills. Pupils have a possibility to develop their ICT skills in the modern equipped computer class and in a Library-Informational Centre.
Children who cannot follow the curriculum due to physical, behavioral or learning problems have an individual curriculum composed individually for each child.
Students get basic education certificate after finishing 10 forms.
Professional training at school is advanced. Our children are taught sewing, cooking, carpentering and metal works. The Career Education is well developed in the centre. It is integrated into the curriculum and after-school activities. The Office of Vocational Informing (OVI) was established in the Centre. The aim of the OVI is to help pupils to find activities and future occupation matching their interests, needs and competencies, to develop pupils’ self-knowledge, to inform and counsel about possibilities of further education.
The education continues after the lessons. Pupils participate in the organized activities, involving self-expression, socialization, life skills’ training, integration to society, the spiritual, artistic training and sport activities. Students participate in sports competition against hearing and having hearing impairment coevals in Germany, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Sweden and other countries.
There is a possibility to attend various circles of self expressions. Each year pupils participate in various international, national and local project and programs.
The centre develops partnership with other educational institutions for the hearing impaired children of Lithuania as well as those from Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, France, Italy
Teachers working in the Centre have high qualification in Deaf education. They create various new educational programs, methodical material and textbooks, consult parents and teachers from mainstreaming and other special schools.
Address: Uosio g. 7
LT-50145 Kaunas
Lithaunia
Tel. (8-37) 33 25 03; 8-683 67710
Fax (8-37) 3318 72
E-mail: kknuc@kknuc.lt