ZAPD calls for sign language from Grade one to form four

The Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities […]

The Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities ZAPD has called for the introduction of sign language from Grade One through to Form Four as part of efforts to strengthen inclusive education and improve access to public services for persons with hearing impairments.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT ZAPD Director General Dr Frankson Musukwa says the proposal should be considered during the forthcoming mid-term review of the national curriculum, arguing that early exposure to sign language would enable learners with hearing impairments to interact more freely with their peers.

 Dr Musukwa said there was “no harm” in introducing sign language in schools, adding that the curriculum review could provide an opportunity to identify the teaching of sign language as a gap that needs to be addressed.

“So that even when you make it compulsory, if you want, we can start, not really compulsory, we can start with it like an option as a way of rolling out,” he said.

He said the introduction of sign language would also support Zambia’s efforts towards inclusive education. “It will be a point to say, how do you do inclusive education when, in fact, you are not introducing sign language from Grade One to Form Four?”

Dr Musukwa said. He explained that trainee teachers are already exposed to sign language, suggesting that the country could build on this foundation.

 “I’ll give you an example. Year one and year two, sign language and Braille are compulsory. All of us were forced to do sign language in year one and year two, until we passed it,” he said.

 Dr Musukwa said teaching sign language to children from an early age would help remove communication barriers between learners with and without hearing impairments. “The benefits are that they are going to interact freely and easily with their peers, the learners with hearing impairment,” he said.

He estimated that there are between 4,700 and 5,000 learners with hearing impairments in the country, arguing that they should not be unnecessarily isolated in special schools when they can learn in ordinary classroom environments with appropriate support. “Learning, as long as you have got the eyes, you can learn in any classroom setup,” he said.

 Dr Musukwa further said the need for sign language extends beyond the education sector, particularly into healthcare and other public services. “These people also go to clinics. They go for service provision. So how are they going to access information if the people they are consulting don’t have sign language knowledge and skills?” he asked.

He said Zambia needed to increase the number of people with basic sign language skills, including medical personnel, to ensure persons with hearing impairments can access essential services. Dr Musukwa noted that some organisations have already volunteered to train medical personnel in basic sign language but questioned whether such interventions were reaching all parts of the country.

“But just what about in Muchinga, what about in North-Western, what about in Kasama, what about in the Southern Province?” he asked.

 He said Zambia was supposed to have sign language interpreters at health facilities, but warned that relying on only one interpreter at a facility could create challenges when the interpreter was unavailable.

Dr Musukwa also raised concerns about confidentiality when interpreters are used during sensitive medical consultations, including HIV counselling and the communication of test results. He said expanding sign language education could help create a wider pool of people capable of communicating with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.

He also addressed concerns that introducing compulsory sign language could require additional funding, Dr Musukwa said financial limitations should not stop the country from pursuing the initiative. “We can ask the cooperating partners.

 There is the British Council, there is the EU, and there is World Vision. We need to come and support this noble cause,” he said.

He also cited NORAD and international organisations involved in supporting sign language initiatives as potential partners. Dr Musukwa said Zambia already had materials that could support the introduction of basic sign language.

“We’ve got enough literature, we’ve got enough material, we’ve got enough everything to make sure that we at least introduce just the basics of sign language so that at least our people can get proper medical care,” he said.

 He said countries including Kenya, Uganda and South Africa had made progress in incorporating sign language into education and suggested Zambia could learn from their experiences. Dr Musukwa further warned that hearing impairment could affect anyone, making sign language a matter of wider social inclusion rather than an issue affecting only persons who are currently deaf.

 “In a society where you want to continue discriminating people with hearing impairment is not a good society at all because disability occurs at any time,” he said. He cautioned that increasing exposure to loud sounds through earphones and other devices could contribute to hearing problems in the future.

“You don’t know how much damage the earphones and whatever earphones they are using are doing to your ears,” he said. “In the next 20, 30 years, we are going to have a good number of hearing impairments. And then it will be too late for us to start advocating because it will be too late.” Dr Musukwa urge policymakers to act before the problem becomes more widespread. “Let’s do this in good times so that it benefits everyone. A society for all is a society for everyone,” he said.

Article by Karen Ngulube