The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), a project spearheaded by the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), has received a US$500,000 grant to extend support to the education and employment of people from the Philippines and Vietnam who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The Nippon Foundation gave the grant for the creation of two Centers on Employment, which are modeled after RIT/NTID’s Center on Employment.
Key Takeaways:
- Nippon Foundation awards a US$500,000 grant to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
- RIT, through the grant, will be creating two Centers on Employment in the Philippines and Vietnam.
- The centers will be RIT’s platform to support the education and employment of deaf people or people who have difficulty hearing from the two partner countries.
The two centers will be located at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in the Philippines and the Dong Nai University in Vietnam — two institutions with long-established relationships with RIT.
RIT, through these centers, will be providing the necessary training and support services for deaf graduates in both partner countries with their educational needs.
While many deaf graduates have successfully completed their education, they add up to the unemployment and underemployment rate since they cannot secure paying positions that utilize their skills, according to the project organizers.
Meanwhile, according to Thomastine Sarchet, director of NTID’s International Educational Outreach department, the grant will help shift attitudes about deaf people and employment in Vietnam and the Philippines.
Deaf people continue to face social attitudes of them being employed because of their disability. Still, Sarchet said that they could positively contribute to the country’s gross national income through their careers.
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