"It's like The Matrix. You have all the numbers, all the information, but no touch, no feeling": South African teachers' experiences of teaching oral hard-of-hearing learners (HoHL) during COVID-19 restrictions.

Background: COVID-19 drastically impacted access to teaching worldwide. Furthermore, for children who are hard-of-hearing (HoH), these challenges were exacerbated, especially within contexts of infrastructural and resource constraints. Necessary COVID-19 protocols had implications for teaching HoH learners (HoHL) online and in-person, where, for example, connectivity and facemask-muffled speech impacted on teaching. Moreover, the reliance on technology during COVID-19 South African level 5 to level 1 restrictions revealed particular challenges for teachers of HoHL and the learners themselves.

Methodology: This qualitative, cross-sectional study explored the experiences of teachers of oral HoHL in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. 11 teachers of grades 1-7 oral HoHL who were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling participated in individual, online, semi-structured interviews. Thereafter, interview transcriptions underwent thematic analysis.

Findings: Participants reported that infrastructural constraints, information and communication technology resource limitations, interruptions in the continuity of education and COVID-19 precautions amplified challenges when teaching oral HoHL. Teachers reported behavioural and emotional challenges in the children whom they taught. Moreover, there seemed to be limited access to medical services for HoHL. Participants reported attempting to bridge the gap between the human and technology interfaces, notwithstanding the inconsistent and limited support services.

Conclusion: This study revealed that, as a consequence of COVID-19, South African teachers had to amend their teaching and assessment methodologies which emphasised the inequality in access to education in South Africa, especially the particular challenges related to education for HoHL. Teachers had to navigate an unknown terrain using modified methodologies and were reliant on technology within the constrained South African context where structural limitations further complicated the teaching of HoHL. COVID-19 highlighted that the confluence of disability, constrained resources and poor support mechanisms in South Africa threatens educational provision for learners with special needs.