Miss-Delectable
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The Herald Online **News**
THE chairman of the Port Elizabeth Deaf Association (Peda) Dick Sibidla couldn‘t get a proper education because he is deaf and consequently employment prospects are slim for him.
This, he said, was because the current education system made it impossible for deaf pupils to access equal education opportunities which resulted in them leaving school semi-literate.
This, in turn, meant that they were excluded from any further education and training, and their employability became slim.
Much of the problem is because teachers in deaf schools have not received any formal training on sign language.
He said the teachers resorted to trial and error methods when teaching – at best confusing and frustrating the deaf children, at worst watering down the level of the syllabus and entire education system.
Sibidla is not alone as the perplexity of his situation finds an echo in more than 1 million deaf people across South Africa.
And the affliction of the deaf will once again come under the spotlight during the International Deaf Awareness Week next week.
Sibidla and the rest of the deaf community are hoping that during next week somebody out there will have an ear to listen.
Most deaf schools, said Nicolene Thys, deaf development worker at Peda, end in Grade 10, forcing deaf people to consider careers only offered by technical colleges, like mechanical and electrical engineering. Those who want to pursue careers requiring a university qualification have to enrol in normal schools.
“But very few, if any, deaf people make it to universities. The reason being that most universities require, at least, a matric certificate as a prerequisite for admission,” she said.
And it‘s extremely difficult for them to pass matric if they are sitting with teachers who have no clue about sign language, let alone explaining science, biological, mathematical or geographical terms with sign language.
But she said even those who made it out of technical or computer colleges had little hope of getting employment. This was because companies and government departments were not willing to pay for the extra cost of hiring sign language interpreters.
In South Africa the deaf have been trying to have sign language declared an official language since 1994. Groovy Mpiyakhe, South African sign language co-ordinator at the Deaf Federation of SA, said they had now initiated a process asking the Constitutional Court to declare sign language an official language.
“This will help and encourage hearing people to be interested in sign language. Teachers will also be properly trained to deliver quality education to deaf children. We will also have more people who can interpret sign language,” he said.
Phumelele Jemane from the Deaf Federation of SA is deaf, married to a deaf woman and has three deaf children.
His is a sad story. “TV is my biggest frustration. When President Thabo Mbeki gives a speech my kids ask me what he is saying. But I can‘t tell them as the information is not accessible. We have a right to know but we are being sidelined.”
The education department could not be reached for comment but in its website a 2001 white paper outlines a 20-year plan to improve special needs.
The plan include converting some 500 primary schools to full-service schools.
Doctor Nomsa Mgijima, director of cultural promotion and development at the department of arts and culture, said early this year her department had submitted a memorandum asking Cabinet to consider declaring sign language an official language.
She said deaf people were disadvantaged and marginalised.
“If their language is official, we will have them in mind when developing policy. We will also put more resources into developing them,” she said.
THE chairman of the Port Elizabeth Deaf Association (Peda) Dick Sibidla couldn‘t get a proper education because he is deaf and consequently employment prospects are slim for him.
This, he said, was because the current education system made it impossible for deaf pupils to access equal education opportunities which resulted in them leaving school semi-literate.
This, in turn, meant that they were excluded from any further education and training, and their employability became slim.
Much of the problem is because teachers in deaf schools have not received any formal training on sign language.
He said the teachers resorted to trial and error methods when teaching – at best confusing and frustrating the deaf children, at worst watering down the level of the syllabus and entire education system.
Sibidla is not alone as the perplexity of his situation finds an echo in more than 1 million deaf people across South Africa.
And the affliction of the deaf will once again come under the spotlight during the International Deaf Awareness Week next week.
Sibidla and the rest of the deaf community are hoping that during next week somebody out there will have an ear to listen.
Most deaf schools, said Nicolene Thys, deaf development worker at Peda, end in Grade 10, forcing deaf people to consider careers only offered by technical colleges, like mechanical and electrical engineering. Those who want to pursue careers requiring a university qualification have to enrol in normal schools.
“But very few, if any, deaf people make it to universities. The reason being that most universities require, at least, a matric certificate as a prerequisite for admission,” she said.
And it‘s extremely difficult for them to pass matric if they are sitting with teachers who have no clue about sign language, let alone explaining science, biological, mathematical or geographical terms with sign language.
But she said even those who made it out of technical or computer colleges had little hope of getting employment. This was because companies and government departments were not willing to pay for the extra cost of hiring sign language interpreters.
In South Africa the deaf have been trying to have sign language declared an official language since 1994. Groovy Mpiyakhe, South African sign language co-ordinator at the Deaf Federation of SA, said they had now initiated a process asking the Constitutional Court to declare sign language an official language.
“This will help and encourage hearing people to be interested in sign language. Teachers will also be properly trained to deliver quality education to deaf children. We will also have more people who can interpret sign language,” he said.
Phumelele Jemane from the Deaf Federation of SA is deaf, married to a deaf woman and has three deaf children.
His is a sad story. “TV is my biggest frustration. When President Thabo Mbeki gives a speech my kids ask me what he is saying. But I can‘t tell them as the information is not accessible. We have a right to know but we are being sidelined.”
The education department could not be reached for comment but in its website a 2001 white paper outlines a 20-year plan to improve special needs.
The plan include converting some 500 primary schools to full-service schools.
Doctor Nomsa Mgijima, director of cultural promotion and development at the department of arts and culture, said early this year her department had submitted a memorandum asking Cabinet to consider declaring sign language an official language.
She said deaf people were disadvantaged and marginalised.
“If their language is official, we will have them in mind when developing policy. We will also put more resources into developing them,” she said.