Baqcheban Pioneer in Field of Education for Deaf
November 25, 1998 - 0:0
TEHRAN Born in 1885 in Tabriz, Jabbar Baqcheban took remarkable steps toward improving the condition of the deaf in the country. In 1925, when he became familiar with the problems facing education for the deaf, he decided to teach them in a special way. In 1934, Baqcheban founded the first elementary school for the deaf in Tehran. After making relentless efforts to improve the educational status of the deaf, he passed away in 1966. He has been named the father of the deaf.
His grave is adjacent to the mausoleum of Sheikh Sadooq in Ibn Babevyeh cemetery, Rey City. The following is his autobiography: I have been a curious and active person ever since my childhood. I was very interested in reading books, children's songs and painting. Every piece of paper in my hands was turned into a beautiful painting full of flowers, trees and mountains.
At night, I usually thought about people's problems and the poverty facing them. Although I was a child, I always tried to find practical ways to resolve the problems of the poor. The most important thing for me was how to improve the living conditions of the deprived strata. After graduating from the traditional school, I began to work with my father who was a construction worker and plasterer in Yerevan, Armenia. Although I learnt my father's job, I was not satisfied with it.
In other words, it was not the career I was interested in. At that time, several modern schools had been established in Yerevan. I started to work in one of them. I found it very interesting and did my best to render educational services to students. Then I returned to Iran. I resided in the city of Marand, where I was employed as a teacher in different schools.
Then I left for Tabriz, where I founded a kindergarten. It was the first kindergarten ever established in Iran. I named it Baqcheh Atfal (The Children's Little Garden). Baqcheh Atfal was the first school to which I admitted a dumb and deaf child. Till that time, nobody cared about the educational problems facing the deaf. From my point of view, the deaf were the most deprived people in the then society.
Their talents were not flourished and they lived an idle life. I believed that a teacher should be like a candle which enlightens the world around it. To a teacher, there is no difference between the rich and the poor; the healthy and the sick. I was determined to teach all children to write and read, even if they could not hear and speak.
When I admitted the first deaf child to my school, I wondered how I could teach him to read and write. I heard that a man in Europe had invented an alphabet through which the deaf could be taught to read and write. I spent so many days and nights thinking about how to invent a new alphabet for the deaf.
After the invention, I admitted more deaf children to my Children's Little Garden. At first, their parents only asked me to take care of them. They couldn't believe that their deaf children might read and write. At the end of the academic year, they passed the exams successfully. The day when the three deaf children succeeded in the exams, the Children's Little Garden was full of people who came to see the children read and write.
They could not believe that the deaf and dumb children could read, write and speak. Jabbar Baqcheban was a prominent teacher who managed to light up the dark world of the deaf. The method he used to teach the deaf is one of the most advanced methods in the world. He devoted his life to the deaf. Today is Jabbar Baqcheban's departure anniversary.
Every year on November 25, thousands of the deaf, both young and old, pay tribute to the father of the deaf children and appreciate his relentless attempts at developing an educational system for deaf people.
His grave is adjacent to the mausoleum of Sheikh Sadooq in Ibn Babevyeh cemetery, Rey City. The following is his autobiography: I have been a curious and active person ever since my childhood. I was very interested in reading books, children's songs and painting. Every piece of paper in my hands was turned into a beautiful painting full of flowers, trees and mountains.
At night, I usually thought about people's problems and the poverty facing them. Although I was a child, I always tried to find practical ways to resolve the problems of the poor. The most important thing for me was how to improve the living conditions of the deprived strata. After graduating from the traditional school, I began to work with my father who was a construction worker and plasterer in Yerevan, Armenia. Although I learnt my father's job, I was not satisfied with it.
In other words, it was not the career I was interested in. At that time, several modern schools had been established in Yerevan. I started to work in one of them. I found it very interesting and did my best to render educational services to students. Then I returned to Iran. I resided in the city of Marand, where I was employed as a teacher in different schools.
Then I left for Tabriz, where I founded a kindergarten. It was the first kindergarten ever established in Iran. I named it Baqcheh Atfal (The Children's Little Garden). Baqcheh Atfal was the first school to which I admitted a dumb and deaf child. Till that time, nobody cared about the educational problems facing the deaf. From my point of view, the deaf were the most deprived people in the then society.
Their talents were not flourished and they lived an idle life. I believed that a teacher should be like a candle which enlightens the world around it. To a teacher, there is no difference between the rich and the poor; the healthy and the sick. I was determined to teach all children to write and read, even if they could not hear and speak.
When I admitted the first deaf child to my school, I wondered how I could teach him to read and write. I heard that a man in Europe had invented an alphabet through which the deaf could be taught to read and write. I spent so many days and nights thinking about how to invent a new alphabet for the deaf.
After the invention, I admitted more deaf children to my Children's Little Garden. At first, their parents only asked me to take care of them. They couldn't believe that their deaf children might read and write. At the end of the academic year, they passed the exams successfully. The day when the three deaf children succeeded in the exams, the Children's Little Garden was full of people who came to see the children read and write.
They could not believe that the deaf and dumb children could read, write and speak. Jabbar Baqcheban was a prominent teacher who managed to light up the dark world of the deaf. The method he used to teach the deaf is one of the most advanced methods in the world. He devoted his life to the deaf. Today is Jabbar Baqcheban's departure anniversary.
Every year on November 25, thousands of the deaf, both young and old, pay tribute to the father of the deaf children and appreciate his relentless attempts at developing an educational system for deaf people.