Call for schools to teach sign language
SYDNEY SAIZE IN MUTARE
Zimbabwe’s National Disability Board has called on the government to expedite the compulsory teaching of sign language in schools and institutions of higher learning for easy communication to people who are deaf.
Board vice chairperson Edward Mundanga told Business Times that sign language should be given prominence in the education curriculum, being one of the major national languages as enshrined in the Constitution.
“Our plight is to let the Constitution be implemented fully, particularly on the issue of sign language. We have scenarios where the deaf are short-changed and not fully getting the service they deserve at some government institutions owing to language barriers.
“We have received numerous complaints from our membership, particularly the deaf who get unsatisfactory service at clinics, hospitals and other government departments such as the national registry department as well as at the judiciary,” Mundanga said.
He said at times at the courts there are no sign language interpreters, the same with the police and with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, among others.
Mundanga said ‘justice delayed is justice denied’. He said most people who are deaf are made to wait longer for their court cases to be heard; while others that require medical help sometimes get wrong medication.
He raised concern over the plight of the deaf. He said when they want to report their cases at police stations where there are no competent interpreters, deaf people suffer.
The Manicaland Provincial Victim Friendly Unit with the Zimbabwe Republic Police inspector Fordreck Muchandibaya said there was need for sign language training among the police, legal officers and public prosecutors in the country.
