“Bantulah Kami untuk Rasa Selamat”; Cabaran Mahasiswa OKU di Universiti Awam

Abstract

Tidak dapat dinafikan, kehidupan individu OKU yang menggalas tanggungjawab sebagai pelajar mempunyai banyak cabaran berbanding dengan pelajar normal yang lain. Ramai pelajar OKU tidak meneruskan pendidikan di tahap yang lebih tinggi disebabkan faktor halangan persekitaran di mana kurang fasiliti yang kondusif untuk memudahkan pergerakan mereka dan sikap negatif yang ditunjukkan oleh orang sekeliling. Kajian kualitatif ini menggunakan teknik temu bual mendalam ke atas tujuh (7) orang responden bagi meneroka cabaran mereka sebagai mahasiswa OKU dalam mencapai kesejahteraan di kampus. Temu bual dijalankan dengan menggunakan pendekatan fenomenologi bagi memahami pengalaman hidup responden. Responden yang ditemubual dipilih berdasarkan kriteria-kriteria khusus yang telah ditetapkan iaitu mahasiswa universiti awam, memiliki kurang upaya fizikal atau penglihatan, berumur 18-40 tahun dan merupakan pemegang aktif kad Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) berdaftar di bawah Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM). Data dirakam sebelum dipindahkan ke dalam bentuk teks secara verbatim. Data yang diperolehi semasa proses temu bual dianalisis menggunakan analisis tematik. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa terdapat tiga (3) tema utama cabaran mahasiswa OKU dalam mencapai kesejahteraan iaitu: persekitaran tidak mesra OKU, masalah kesihatan dan kurang sokongan sosial. Tema ini telah disahkan secara semakan pakar (peer review) dalam bidang kualitatif. Cabaran-cabaran ini telah menjadi penghalang bagi mereka untuk mencapai kesejahteraan semasa berada di alam kampus. Mahasiswa OKU mengakui mempunyai pelbagai keterbatasan namun mereka berjuang untuk menyempurnakan pengajian mereka sebaik mungkin. Pihak pengurusan dan pentadbir perlu lebih prihatin kepada isu-isu yang dihadapi oleh mahasiswa OKU dan memastikan Dasar Inklusif OKU dipraktiskan di semua peringkat.

Kata kunci: mahasiswa, OKU, cabaran, kesejahteraan

Abstract: Undeniably, the life of a disabled individual who bears the responsibility of being a student has many challenges compared to other normal students. Many disabled students do not continue their education at a higher level due to environmental barriers where there are less conducive facilities to facilitate their movement and the negative attitude shown by people around them. This study is qualitative in nature by using in-depth interview techniques on seven (7) respondents to explore their challenges as disabled students in achieving subjective well-being on campus. Interviews were conducted using a phenomenological approach to understand the life experiences of the respondents. Respondents who were interviewed were selected based on specific criteria that have been set, namely public university students, have physical or visual disabilities, aged 18-40 years and are active holders of the Disabled Persons (OKU) card registered under the Department of Social Welfare (JKM). Data were recorded before being transferred into text form verbatim. The data obtained during the interview process was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study found that there are three (3) main themes of challenges for disabled students in achieving well-being, namely: unfriendly environment to disabled people, health problems and lack of social support. This theme has been verified by expert review (peer review) in the qualitative field. These challenges have become an obstacle for them to achieve well-being while on campus. Disabled students admit to having various limitations but they struggle to complete their studies as best as possible. The management and administrators need to be more attentive to the issues faced by OKU students and ensure that the Inclusive Policy for OKU is put into practice at all levels.

Keywords: university students, OKU, challenges, well being

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