In 2016, eight corporate professionals set out on a mission to help hearing-impaired students, who did not have access to higher education, get degrees. Six years later, in 2022, their efforts bore fruit when their first batch of students sat for their third year exams. The 27 students—and their trainers—are now awaiting results. At a time when terms such as “inclusive education” are gaining steam, India’s lack of effective support systems and sign language educators has deprived many students with hearing and speech impairment of educational opportunities. TEACH (Training and Educational Centre for Hearing Impaired) is a Mumbai-based charitable trust that works to ensure higher education for such students.

Maharashtra has a sizable population of eight lakh hearing-impaired people, but it doesn’t have a single junior or degree college for them. There are only three government-run schools for them—in Akola, Aurangabad, and Raigad, which  collectively educate just over 150 students.