Recognition of Malawian Sign Language in Education System

• In Event: The impact of digital educational materials in sign language to the acceptance and recognition of sign languages as official languages

Proposal

Malawi has adopted the inclusive education approach where learners with and without disabilities learn together and benefit from the same resources. Much as this approach ensures that learners with disabilities are not discriminated against, learners who are deaf still experience a lot of challenges in their quest to get quality and equitable education. This is mostly due to the language deprivation that deaf learners experience due to not having access to a sign language rich learning environment which negatively affects the way they access materials,information and education in particular.
Despite the fact that Malawi is a signatory to a number of local and international instruments, such as the UN CRPD, Malawian Sign Language (MSL) is not recognized as an official language nor as a language of instruction for deaf learners. Furthermore, there are very limited teaching and learning materials that are adapted into MSL to facilitate the learning of deaf children. There is also very little emphasis on the promotion of MSL during the early years of deaf children's lives, no mention on how to promote and integrate MSL into the education system, and little to support the provision of sign language interpreting services to the Deaf community in the local legal instruments.
In order to address these challenges and increase material evidence to strengthen recognition of MSL, the Malawi National Association of the Deaf (MANAD) has been lobbying and advocating for better services to its members. With support from development partners, MANAD has implemented a number of projects, such as the development of the first ever MSL Dictionary with support from the Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD). In this presentation we will discuss how this dictionary will go a long way in supporting teachers of deaf learners and the general public in their learning and use MSL.
MANAD in collaboration with eKitabu with funding from All Children Reading, have developed MSL video storybooks and conducted training for teachers and parents of deaf children in MSL and utilization of the MSL video books. The MSL video books have really changed the landscape of education in Malawi because they have given an opportunity for deaf learners to have access to the curriculum books in their mother language. The fact that the production of the books was done in close collaboration with eKitabu and MANAD helped to have true MSL used in the materials while also empowering the local Deaf community as well as increasing empirical evidence on ground that can lead to official recognition.
Under the USAID – Reading For All Malawi (REFAM) Activity, the first ever Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) for deaf and hard of hearing learners was conducted. The assessment unveiled a number of issues affecting the education of deaf learners in Malawi and provided solutions on how they could be addressed. Results will inform policymakers and educators on the importance of learning in a sign language rich environment vs. one that doesn’t recognize its importance.

Author

• Sekerani Edgars Kufakwina, Malawi National Association of Deaf