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allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Learning Falls On Deaf Ears
THE bottle-green jersey, matching pair of trousers and beige shirt make Plumtree Primary School Grade Five pupil Wellington Tshuma look like any other at the school.
He plays soccer with his peers during break time, attends assembly, and walks to and from school with other kids and rarely misses classes since he is in Grade 1.
Together with the other 39 kids in his class, they sit and admire the wit and wisdom of their teacher, Mr Martin Ndlovu.
Only once have they found themselves on the wrong side of the school rules and regulations and received their punishment.
But sadly, Wellington's similarities with other pupils end there. He does not enjoy what other children do. Wellington has a hearing impairment and as such only goes to school to socialise with other kids.
There are three other deaf children at this school and they all have never written an examination since they started going to school.
Wellington's teacher does not know how to communicate with him using sign language making it difficult for him to impart his knowledge.
The other three children with hearing impairments also face similar challenges as all their teachers are not trained to teach using sign language.
"They just accompany others to school and sit during lessons. It is difficult to teach Wellington because we do not understand each other. He cannot write properly and when others sit for end of term examinations, he just plays. We could not make out what he had written the last time we asked him to write so we now let him sit.
"These are some of the serious challenges we face when it comes to teaching children with disabilities in a rural setting. We lack the techniques and need the training.
"It will be good for Government to include sign language as part of teacher training curriculum so that the needs of children like Wellington are met. It is painful to watch him sit in class while others enjoy lessons," said Mr Ndlovu.
Many children like Wellington will never achieve their potential because of this lack of knowledge by their teachers.
Wellington faces these challenges because his special needs and those of many others have been ignored in the teacher training curriculum. Or if they have been put in place they are not being implemented.
Making his situation worse is that his parents cannot afford to pay school fees at a nearby school which offers lessons for the deaf.
"The school charges R2 500 per term and his parents cannot afford. Hence he comes here to sit with the others," added Mr Ndlovu.
But as Mr Ndlovu is worried about whether he will ever teach Wellington in this far flung rural area, the picture is quite different in Bulawayo where a sign language dictionary was recently launched at King George VI Centre.
The sign language dictionary, a first in this country, has more than 5 000 words that will help teachers like Mr Ndlovu communicate with pupils like Wellington.
Though Mr Ndlovu did not attend the launch of the sign language dictionary many stakeholders who attended the event called for Government to recognise sign language as one of the country's official languages.
Linguistics professor and fellow with Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (Osisa, Lazarus Miti, launched the dictionary amid celebrations also attended by deaf children.
It was a warm moment as deaf children danced to music including the popular Banolila by Iyasa.
Speaking at the event held at King George VI Centre, headmistress Perseverance Hadebe, explained some of the challenges met by the deaf in schools, health facilities and travelling among many others.
She said the community of the deaf would be happy to have sign language recognised in the new constitution together with Ndebele, Shona and English, as official languages in the country.
"We hope to secure constitutional rights for the deaf so that sign language is recognised as an official language which will be taught at schools throughout the country," she revealed.
The centre's co-co-ordinator Inez Hussey said the launch of the 5 000-word dictionary was a step in the right direction which is set to ensure that the deaf are not kept in a closed society as they are only able to communicate amongst themselves.
She said the Government is talking about introducing sign language as a subject in schools and they will be definitely pushing for it now that they have a sign language dictionary. She also highlighted some of the challenges faced by the deaf.
"The deaf face numerous challenges when trying to communicate with their parents or even when they are not feeling well and have to visit the doctor for medical attention. They can communicate, but unfortunately the people they are communicating with do not understand what they will be saying.
"This dictionary will allow parents to be able to communicate with their own children and open communication channels with those who can speak," said Mrs Hussey.
Compiling and printing of the dictionary was made possible through funding from Osisa, which brought together 20 sign language experts from around the country to come up with one common dictionary used across the country, regardless of dialects.
She said it took 10 months to research and compile the dictionary.
They also facilitated the initial printing of the first 5 000 copies of the dictionary. But also another disadvantage for teachers like Mr Ndlovu is that the sign language book is not being given out for free, it costs US$20 and is out of his reach if his salary is anything to go by.
Mrs Hussey said there was need to have more dictionaries printed to cover all schools in the country and this needed funding.
She revealed that Zambia and Lesotho are in the process of compiling a sign language dictionary.
"I think we are one of the first to launch the dictionary and the other countries are following suit," she said.
United Nations Children's Fund chief communications officer Micaela De Sousa said her organisation will explore ways to assist in the printing of the dictionary as part of the nationwide programme which has seen them purchasing and printing books for the visually impaired.
According to research by Marie Wilson on Ezine articles.com sign language is not just a random collection of gestures it is a full-blown language in its own right, complete with its own grammatical rules. Each country or region has its own sign language, as different from each other as English is from Spanish.
Each version of sign language is somewhat linked to the spoken language in its region. For example, American sign language does share similarities with English, even though it is its own language.
Sign language is not based on sentences like English, but on phrases and ideas. When translating sign language into English, for example, some words will have a direct translation. Others find no adequate translation for the true meaning, just like translating Japanese to English, or English to Arabic.
The written history of sign language begins in France in the 18th century. Charles-Michel de l'Epee founded the first ever public school for deaf children. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded the first American school for the deaf in 1817, and his son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, founded the first and only liberal arts college in the world for the deaf in 1857.
In 1864, its name became Gallaudet University, and it remains the only such school of higher learning in the world today.
Wilson says the advantages of knowing sign language in addition to a spoken language are many. Communication becomes possible on many levels with the deaf community, with other people either hearing or not in any of the above situations, as well as many more.
THE bottle-green jersey, matching pair of trousers and beige shirt make Plumtree Primary School Grade Five pupil Wellington Tshuma look like any other at the school.
He plays soccer with his peers during break time, attends assembly, and walks to and from school with other kids and rarely misses classes since he is in Grade 1.
Together with the other 39 kids in his class, they sit and admire the wit and wisdom of their teacher, Mr Martin Ndlovu.
Only once have they found themselves on the wrong side of the school rules and regulations and received their punishment.
But sadly, Wellington's similarities with other pupils end there. He does not enjoy what other children do. Wellington has a hearing impairment and as such only goes to school to socialise with other kids.
There are three other deaf children at this school and they all have never written an examination since they started going to school.
Wellington's teacher does not know how to communicate with him using sign language making it difficult for him to impart his knowledge.
The other three children with hearing impairments also face similar challenges as all their teachers are not trained to teach using sign language.
"They just accompany others to school and sit during lessons. It is difficult to teach Wellington because we do not understand each other. He cannot write properly and when others sit for end of term examinations, he just plays. We could not make out what he had written the last time we asked him to write so we now let him sit.
"These are some of the serious challenges we face when it comes to teaching children with disabilities in a rural setting. We lack the techniques and need the training.
"It will be good for Government to include sign language as part of teacher training curriculum so that the needs of children like Wellington are met. It is painful to watch him sit in class while others enjoy lessons," said Mr Ndlovu.
Many children like Wellington will never achieve their potential because of this lack of knowledge by their teachers.
Wellington faces these challenges because his special needs and those of many others have been ignored in the teacher training curriculum. Or if they have been put in place they are not being implemented.
Making his situation worse is that his parents cannot afford to pay school fees at a nearby school which offers lessons for the deaf.
"The school charges R2 500 per term and his parents cannot afford. Hence he comes here to sit with the others," added Mr Ndlovu.
But as Mr Ndlovu is worried about whether he will ever teach Wellington in this far flung rural area, the picture is quite different in Bulawayo where a sign language dictionary was recently launched at King George VI Centre.
The sign language dictionary, a first in this country, has more than 5 000 words that will help teachers like Mr Ndlovu communicate with pupils like Wellington.
Though Mr Ndlovu did not attend the launch of the sign language dictionary many stakeholders who attended the event called for Government to recognise sign language as one of the country's official languages.
Linguistics professor and fellow with Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (Osisa, Lazarus Miti, launched the dictionary amid celebrations also attended by deaf children.
It was a warm moment as deaf children danced to music including the popular Banolila by Iyasa.
Speaking at the event held at King George VI Centre, headmistress Perseverance Hadebe, explained some of the challenges met by the deaf in schools, health facilities and travelling among many others.
She said the community of the deaf would be happy to have sign language recognised in the new constitution together with Ndebele, Shona and English, as official languages in the country.
"We hope to secure constitutional rights for the deaf so that sign language is recognised as an official language which will be taught at schools throughout the country," she revealed.
The centre's co-co-ordinator Inez Hussey said the launch of the 5 000-word dictionary was a step in the right direction which is set to ensure that the deaf are not kept in a closed society as they are only able to communicate amongst themselves.
She said the Government is talking about introducing sign language as a subject in schools and they will be definitely pushing for it now that they have a sign language dictionary. She also highlighted some of the challenges faced by the deaf.
"The deaf face numerous challenges when trying to communicate with their parents or even when they are not feeling well and have to visit the doctor for medical attention. They can communicate, but unfortunately the people they are communicating with do not understand what they will be saying.
"This dictionary will allow parents to be able to communicate with their own children and open communication channels with those who can speak," said Mrs Hussey.
Compiling and printing of the dictionary was made possible through funding from Osisa, which brought together 20 sign language experts from around the country to come up with one common dictionary used across the country, regardless of dialects.
She said it took 10 months to research and compile the dictionary.
They also facilitated the initial printing of the first 5 000 copies of the dictionary. But also another disadvantage for teachers like Mr Ndlovu is that the sign language book is not being given out for free, it costs US$20 and is out of his reach if his salary is anything to go by.
Mrs Hussey said there was need to have more dictionaries printed to cover all schools in the country and this needed funding.
She revealed that Zambia and Lesotho are in the process of compiling a sign language dictionary.
"I think we are one of the first to launch the dictionary and the other countries are following suit," she said.
United Nations Children's Fund chief communications officer Micaela De Sousa said her organisation will explore ways to assist in the printing of the dictionary as part of the nationwide programme which has seen them purchasing and printing books for the visually impaired.
According to research by Marie Wilson on Ezine articles.com sign language is not just a random collection of gestures it is a full-blown language in its own right, complete with its own grammatical rules. Each country or region has its own sign language, as different from each other as English is from Spanish.
Each version of sign language is somewhat linked to the spoken language in its region. For example, American sign language does share similarities with English, even though it is its own language.
Sign language is not based on sentences like English, but on phrases and ideas. When translating sign language into English, for example, some words will have a direct translation. Others find no adequate translation for the true meaning, just like translating Japanese to English, or English to Arabic.
The written history of sign language begins in France in the 18th century. Charles-Michel de l'Epee founded the first ever public school for deaf children. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded the first American school for the deaf in 1817, and his son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, founded the first and only liberal arts college in the world for the deaf in 1857.
In 1864, its name became Gallaudet University, and it remains the only such school of higher learning in the world today.
Wilson says the advantages of knowing sign language in addition to a spoken language are many. Communication becomes possible on many levels with the deaf community, with other people either hearing or not in any of the above situations, as well as many more.