SIGN language could soon become a recognised official language in an effort to overcome prejudice in society and the workplace, a government official said yesterday.
After lobbying by organisations supporting the deaf, the Education Ministry this week called on parliament officially to recognise sign language. This would mean teachers proficient in sign language would be available at schools, easing the social integration of hearing impaired children from an early age.
The Director of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Gregory Hoblarou, stressed in a letter to parliament that there was still considerable confusion over sign language. He said there was a need to identify one form of sign language as a recognised language for those suffering from impaired hearing.
“There had never been a scientific record of sign language in Cyprus, so it has not been identified as an official language,” the letter pointed out.
Kyproulla Magrea, special needs inspector at the Education Ministry, explained that, “for many years, Cyprus was influenced by Britain, as a colony. In Britain, there is a significant lack of training or awareness of sign language in schools, so whoever went to train in Britain was never taught the language,” she said, adding: “Those with impaired hearing in Cyprus had to learn to communicate orally and made up their own sign language, resulting in there being different forms of the language. But to make sign language official, there must be one main, commonly-used form.”
Christos Angelides, officer for special needs at the Ministry of Labour, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday: “Employment is a not a problem for people who are deaf. It is their education that is a problem. When the students leave special schools for the deaf, their qualifications are not equivalent to secondary education.”
But Magrea disagreed: “It’s an excuse, it’s prejudice. A lot of people who are deaf are in mainstream schools; the prejudice lies with the employer not with the qualifications.”
Angelides said the Ministry of Labour had a scheme involving the payment of £2,000 to any employer hiring a deaf person, providing financial support to supply sign language and providing equipment needed to aid the hearing impaired.
Magrea was optimistic that recognising the sign language would make a big difference: “If sign language becomes recognised as an official language of the deaf, the Education Ministry will implement a change in the education system. Every school will have staff who know the language, which will make children aware so that future generations do not prejudice the deaf.”
