One of the most common ailments of humanity is considered to be hearing loss. According to WHO, about 280 million people worldwide have hearing problems. As for our country, there are about 5 thousand people with hearing disorders. And so, every year about 100 children are born with such disorders. There are 2 specialized pre-school institutions and 2 specialized schools for children with hearing disabilities in Bishkek, as well as 1 school in the south part of the Republic. These institutions still use textbooks and materials published in the 90s. Specialists, teachers, educators, they are obliged to prepare their own didactic material for conducting classes. 

"Currently working specialists do not have a lot of experience in using new information technologies to create digital materials, but they have a lot of experience working with children who have hearing disorders and have already developed their proven teaching methods over the years (development of hearing, speech production, taking into account the psychological characteristics of children and the possibility of their perception). We plan to develop digital flash cards accompanied by a dactyl on three priority topics: my family, the world around me, and basic arithmetic. Flash cards will be designed as mobile apps and will be published in the play market."

                                                                                 Rena Sultangazieva, Project Manager

This project was the winner of the UNDP Innovative Solutions competition. We supported three projects for a total of $ 25,000. And so, this issue was one of the best ideas for addressing the social and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, which was brewing long before the pandemic. The project is dedicated to the development of electronic resources for children with hearing disorders of preschool age and their involvement in the digital learning system. Despite the fact that work on this task was started six months before the COVID-19 epidemic, in the conditions of forced quarantine and the current recommended self-isolation, this issue is particularly relevant.

"Using the applications that will be created by us as part of the project will help children to consolidate the previous program in preschool institutions. It is also planned to develop a web application Media bukvar’ doshkolenka. It will include animation materials in the form of phonetic exercises, the usual dactyl alphabet, and video materials on sign language. The media bukvar’ will also be published on the Internet, it means that everyone can have access to our developed materials."  

Rena Sultangazieva, Project Manager

By the way, all materials will be developed under the guidance of specialists of preschool and school institutions in teaching children with hearing disorders. The winners of the competition consists of young people, students who have just graduated from universities. We hope that these materials will help children learn to read and write faster, improve their vocabulary, and form associative thinking, which will allow them to better adapt to inclusive education and integrate into society in the future.