Multilingual Education and India

This week is the International week of Sign Languages. When I watched a few years ago the Oscar winning short movie " The Silent Child ", it made a big impression on me: everywhere in the world many deaf children grow up without a language at all. What a tragedy!  In recent years more attention has been given to sign languages. Including in India. Still we have a long way to go! The International Day of Sign Languages , observed on September 23, promotes awareness of sign languages in ensuring equal rights for the deaf community and the last week of September is observed as the International week of the Deaf . This year’s theme  for the International Day of Sign Languages highlights inclusivity and accessible communication for all. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 63 million people in India have significant auditory impairment, which is roughly 6.3% of the population.  The National Education Policy 2020(NEP 2020) recognizes the importance of prom...

Good to note that there is an International Day of Sign Languages! Sign languages are vital for the large deaf communities in the country and need recognition. Even last week I was in a meeting where I again heard about tens of thousands of deaf children who grow up without language as nobody teaches them how to sign. Recognition of this problem is very much needed and so is literacy for the deaf. On World Sign Language day on the 23th of September, Hindustan Times reported that disability rights activists and members of the Deaf Association in Pune spoke about the fact that students who are hearing impaired often have limited study options. This meeting focused particularly on the opportunities for higher studies as many universities do not offer courses in sign language.  However, as shown in his beautiful Oscar-winning short film, The Silent Child : many deaf children around the globe, even at the primary level, are excluded from education. Definition There are many misconcept...