The signing into law of the South African Sign Language (SASL) Bill as the country’s 12th official language on Wednesday was hailed a milestone in SA’s constitutional democracy and a step in the right direction.
At a ceremony in the Union Buildings in Pretoria, President Cyril Ramaphosa said recognising sign language as an official language was a step towards realising the rights of people who are hard of hearing or unable to speak.
The president described the occasion as an historic moment. “To empower people to use their language is to affirm their humanity and their existence,” he said.
The signing of the Bill signals the amendment of section 6 of the constitution to include South African Sign Language.
It also marks the country as the 41st globally and the fourth in the continent – following in the footsteps of Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda – to recognise sign language as an official language. The deaf community, who have been campaigning for this bill for 25 years, also welcomed the signing, with the director of Sign Language Education and Development (SLED) Cara Loening stating: “Now, we as a nation need to take this further to ensure that SASL is incorporated into all essential services, particularly education.
“Constitutionally recognising SASL as an official language provides opportunities for educational institutions to make SASL part of the curriculum, encouraging South African citizens to learn our indigenous languages, thereby breaking communication barriers that have existed for so long in society as well as in all public services.”
It is important to recognise that language is fundamental for social interaction, personal development and abstract thinking.
Access to sign language from birth and throughout schooling is therefore a sine qua non for a deaf child’s full development. With only 5% of deaf babies born to deaf parents and thus having access to sign language from birth, the provision of education for deaf children in SASL should be prioritised. This would make it imperative to have qualified and fluent teachers who are at the level of first-language users.
Currently, teachers at schools for the deaf are not required to have any form of specialised training or qualification in deaf education or SASL before they can be appointed. This leads to an anomalous situation where pupils have to act as teachers for the teacher to facilitate communication. Such a situation unsurprisingly leads to low literacy levels and poor education outcomes among deaf pupils.
The implication of the constitutional amendment is that specialised schools for the deaf will have to be increased in the country, factoring in geographic spread and need. Currently, there are 43 schools for the deaf across the country with 38 of these implementing SASL as the language of learning and teaching.
The education department should make it mandatory for teachers at schools for the deaf to possess specialist qualifications. It is imperative that deaf teachers are trained to become role models for deaf children and ensure that deaf children access their human rights in a language they understand.
As a fully recognised official language, SASL must, by law, be properly integrated into the education and post-school system. The recognition of SASL should not simply be symbolic and the government must facilitate and promote the use of sign language with the goal to ensure that deaf people can enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others.
Prior to the signing of the bill, strides had been made towards the respect for deaf rights through the literacy programme Kha Ri Gude ('Let's Learn' in Venda), which offers classes in all 11 official languages, including sign language, and has recruited 60 sign language teachers to implement the programme.
The Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb) also weighed in on the developments by commenting that it was a significant milestone for our constitutional democracy, which guaranteed in its founding provisions human dignity, equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms.
For its part, the education department must strengthen training and support for the SASL curriculum. This can be realised through the provision of resources and deaf education materials. Such a step can remove a long-standing barrier to learning by deaf children who have existed on the peripheries due to a lack of access to natural language.
No effort should be spared to ensure that deaf children can realise their full potential and become the best they can be. The work should start now.
NATHANIEL LEE | Official recognition of sign language just the start for deaf people
Much needs to be done to ensure they have access to everything they need
Image: Phill Magakoe
The signing into law of the South African Sign Language (SASL) Bill as the country’s 12th official language on Wednesday was hailed a milestone in SA’s constitutional democracy and a step in the right direction.
At a ceremony in the Union Buildings in Pretoria, President Cyril Ramaphosa said recognising sign language as an official language was a step towards realising the rights of people who are hard of hearing or unable to speak.
The president described the occasion as an historic moment. “To empower people to use their language is to affirm their humanity and their existence,” he said.
The signing of the Bill signals the amendment of section 6 of the constitution to include South African Sign Language.
It also marks the country as the 41st globally and the fourth in the continent – following in the footsteps of Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda – to recognise sign language as an official language. The deaf community, who have been campaigning for this bill for 25 years, also welcomed the signing, with the director of Sign Language Education and Development (SLED) Cara Loening stating: “Now, we as a nation need to take this further to ensure that SASL is incorporated into all essential services, particularly education.
“Constitutionally recognising SASL as an official language provides opportunities for educational institutions to make SASL part of the curriculum, encouraging South African citizens to learn our indigenous languages, thereby breaking communication barriers that have existed for so long in society as well as in all public services.”
It is important to recognise that language is fundamental for social interaction, personal development and abstract thinking.
Access to sign language from birth and throughout schooling is therefore a sine qua non for a deaf child’s full development. With only 5% of deaf babies born to deaf parents and thus having access to sign language from birth, the provision of education for deaf children in SASL should be prioritised. This would make it imperative to have qualified and fluent teachers who are at the level of first-language users.
Currently, teachers at schools for the deaf are not required to have any form of specialised training or qualification in deaf education or SASL before they can be appointed. This leads to an anomalous situation where pupils have to act as teachers for the teacher to facilitate communication. Such a situation unsurprisingly leads to low literacy levels and poor education outcomes among deaf pupils.
The implication of the constitutional amendment is that specialised schools for the deaf will have to be increased in the country, factoring in geographic spread and need. Currently, there are 43 schools for the deaf across the country with 38 of these implementing SASL as the language of learning and teaching.
The education department should make it mandatory for teachers at schools for the deaf to possess specialist qualifications. It is imperative that deaf teachers are trained to become role models for deaf children and ensure that deaf children access their human rights in a language they understand.
As a fully recognised official language, SASL must, by law, be properly integrated into the education and post-school system. The recognition of SASL should not simply be symbolic and the government must facilitate and promote the use of sign language with the goal to ensure that deaf people can enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others.
Prior to the signing of the bill, strides had been made towards the respect for deaf rights through the literacy programme Kha Ri Gude ('Let's Learn' in Venda), which offers classes in all 11 official languages, including sign language, and has recruited 60 sign language teachers to implement the programme.
The Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb) also weighed in on the developments by commenting that it was a significant milestone for our constitutional democracy, which guaranteed in its founding provisions human dignity, equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms.
For its part, the education department must strengthen training and support for the SASL curriculum. This can be realised through the provision of resources and deaf education materials. Such a step can remove a long-standing barrier to learning by deaf children who have existed on the peripheries due to a lack of access to natural language.
No effort should be spared to ensure that deaf children can realise their full potential and become the best they can be. The work should start now.
THEODORUS DU PLESSIS | SA has taken bold step on sign language
PEDRO MZILENI | Recognition of Sign Language triumph of human rights
Sign language recognised as 12th official language in South Africa
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