The newly developed South African Sign Language Curriculum is set to roll out for the first time in all South African schools for the deaf in 2014. This development reaffirms South African sign language as the language of learning and teaching at all schools for the deaf.
The responsibility of provincial departments of education is to provide appropriate and relevant training to educators and class assistants at schools for the deaf to improve the standards of deaf education. Plans are afoot to ensure that the rollout of the South African sign language in Gauteng runs smoothly and delivered by adequately trained, competent and accredited teachers.
The Gauteng Department of Education today hands over certificates to 115 educators and from schools for the deaf and officials who underwent training in South African sign language, NQF level 4.
The training was meant to ensure that educators at these schools are adequately qualified to provide quality education in the most appropriate language understood by deaf learners and in environments which maximise academic and social development. The training incorporated disability awareness, understanding the linguistic features of South African sign language, deaf culture, educational techniques and materials to support deaf learners.
Previously educators who received training in South African sign language had done so by means which were either self- initiated or through funding obtained through sponsorships by the schools. “The training provided by the department is a way of recognising the importance of skilling educators in schools for the deaf in a structured manner that enables learners to access curriculum through the best possible means,” said Gauteng Education MEC Ms Barbara Creecy.
The focus of the first rollout is targeted at educators in the foundation and intermediate phase. “We recognise that the majority of deaf learners come from hearing families and for many of them their first point of learning South African sign language is at a school for the deaf. It is for this reason that we prioritised training for Foundation and Intermediate phase educators,” said Creecy.
This initial roll out by department is the start of improving deaf education and the department will conduct regular audits to determine which educators in schools for the deaf still require training and the types of improvements that need to be made in future training. “We acknowledge that so much more must be done and that further skills development is a necessity in order for deaf learners to reveal their full potential” added Creecy.
The department remains committed in ensuring that all learners in Gauteng irrespective of their special educational needs do well at school and leave our institutions with the values, knowledge, skills and qualifications that will give them the best chance of success in adult life.
