Knowledge and Skills for Working Life

Deaf people were quite well placed in working life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The teaching programmes of schools for the deaf always included activities that prepared pupils for handicraft professions. However, the first vocational schools for the deaf were not founded until the beginning of the 20th century. One of the most famous vocational schools was the Nikkarila home economics school in Pieksämäki.

A vocational school for the deaf was opened in 1948, and a lower secondary school started its operations twenty years later. However, higher education remained inaccessible to the deaf for a long time. Applying for further studies was made difficult by, among other things, the oralist teaching methods, as many deaf people could not read or write well enough.

From the 1980s onwards, the availability of sign language interpretation services has expanded deaf people’s academic and work opportunities. At the same time, they became more aware of their rights. University studies were organised in sign language for the first time at the University of Jyväskylä. However, deaf people still had to fight against discrimination and prejudice when applying for education and training or jobs.