Kenyan Sign Language (KSL)
It
is estimated that Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) is the first and preferred
language communication of between 600-800,000 Deaf people in the Kenya. The
Kenyan Deaf community consists of individuals who come from ALL the 42 tribes
of Kenya and are united by a common language – KSL, a shared culture, tradition
and history; KSL is fundamental to their self-esteem and social well being. Deaf Kenyans regardless
of tribe, gender or religion uses KSL as a medium of communication and for
official transaction of business, school, religious activities and social
interactions. With the
promulgation of the new constitution in August of 2010, the Deaf community in
Kenya have celebrated the recognition of Kenyan Sign Language in the new constitution.
The official recognition of KSL brings a clear benefits to many
thousands of Deaf people in terms of improved access to information and
essential services. Recognition of KSL also promotes a better knowledge and
understanding of the language in society as a whole and formally acknowledge
the status of KSL as one of Kenya's second most widely used indigenous national
languages second to Kiswahili.
The following provisions affirms the place of
Kenyan Sign Language in the Kenyan Constitution.
Chapter 2 Section 7 – National, Official and
Other Languages
·
The national language of the Republic is
Kiswahili.
·
The official languages of the Republic are
Kiswahili and English.
·
The State shall:
·
respect, promote and protect the diversity of
language of the people of Kenya.
·
The State shall promote the development and
use of Kenyan Sign Language (KSL), Braille and other appropriate modes
of communication for persons with disabilities.
Chapter 8 – Legislature - 120. Official
Languages of Parliament
The
official languages of Parliament shall be Kiswahili, English and Kenyan Sign
Language (KSL) and the business of Parliament may be conducted in either
English, Kiswahili and Kenyan Sign Language (KSL).
The provisions above have made it possible
for the linguistic rights of the Deaf in Kenya to be guaranteed. This means
that the Deaf Kenyan now has access to services such as education,
interpretation, information and employment and to promote KSL and Deaf culture.
Closer home these provisions have the following implications to the state,
essential service providers, communities and Deaf citizens. The state shall
promote, respect and develop the indigenous languages including Kenyan Sign
Language. What does this mean? The state shall accord KSL the same respect to
KSL that it accords to Kiswahili or English and enforce the same in the
republic as long as there are users of KSL paying taxes. The State should
promote promote KSL in public and private sector. In its functions and
documentation it should be able to communicate its policies, proclamations and
public notices in KSL. Development of KSL in higher institutions should be
encouraged and nurtured. These all begins with the state taking the initiative
of developing and adopting a language policy, this policy will guide the usage,
research, documentation and development of all official and national languages
namely Kiswahili, KSL and English.
Kenya ratified the UN Convention
on 19 May 2008. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
recognizes and secures Deaf people’s linguistic rights. The most significant
achievement for Deaf people is that article 2 defines sign languages as
languages, more to say, they are considered equal to spoken languages. Sign
languages have complex rules of grammar and expansive vocabularies, and are
comfortably capable to be used in everyday conversation, intellectual
discourse, rhetoric, likewise wit, and poetry. Sign languages in each country
are found to have dialects, just as spoken languages do.. Our own PWD Act 2003
needs to be implemented! Deaf Kenyans have the best expertise and knowledge in
the use of sign languages and they are signers or users of the language, thus,
they should not be left out from any legislative process that affects their
lives.
The key to the achievement of
Deaf people’s basic rights is respect for the right to use sign languages. To
promote this right, World Federation of the Deaf strongly
encourages countries to recognise their national sign languages and Deaf
people’s linguistic rights in legislation and to develop legislation to
guarantee services and access to education, interpretation, information and
employment for deaf citizens and to promote sign languages and Deaf culture.
These rights are protected by the UN Convention by its five articles that have
a direct reference to Deaf people and sign languages (See: Article 2 ;
Article 9.2.e ; Article 21.b and
21.e; Article 24.3.b and 24.3.c and 24.4; Article 30.4).
Access to information and essential services
Deaf people face many barriers when using
public and private services. This is frequently due to a lack of awareness of
the needs of Deaf people on the part of service providers, and insufficient
communication support. Deaf people with visual impairments (for example those
with Usher syndrome) or other disabilities are especially disadvantaged.
Essential Service Providers will have to make adjustments to be compliant and
friendly to these legislative provisions. Because English is often their second
language, Deaf KSL users do not always have full access to written information.
Service providers therefore need to use interpreters wherever necessary and to
make information available in KSL formats, for instance on video or CD-ROM.
Information, Communication and Education
In education, the use and teaching of KSL
within a bilingual (KSL/English) learning environment is essential for some
deaf children and adults. The early acquisition of language is vital to the
learning process and for some deaf children KSL will be more accessible than spoken
languages. The Framework of Action accompanying UNESCO's Salamanca Statement on
Special Needs Education, to which Britain is a signatory, states that: The
importance of sign language as the medium of communication among the
deaf...should be recognized and provision made to ensure that all deaf persons
have access to education in their national sign language. Framework for Action
(1994), para 21) The United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 1993, similarly state
that: Consideration should be given to the use of sign language in the
education of the deaf children, in their families and communities. Sign
language interpretation services should also be provided to facilitate the
communication between deaf persons and others (Rule 5, Accessibility) However, in Kenya, educational provision for
deaf children varies greatly between education authorities, with some not
offering bilingual programs and very few schools or resource bases for deaf children
offering any formal teaching of KSL. A lack of access to KSL learning can
adversely affect the language development of some deaf children and so impede
their subsequent learning. Teachers in Schools for the Deaf have no options but
to be fluent in KSL and be able to teach, discuss and examine topical issues in
KSL.
Most schools in Kenya have for years insisted
on the oral and or total communication mode of instruction. Those advocating
for mainstreaming need to understand that a mainstreamed environment means that
a Deaf child in a regular school would need the teachers and classmates to be
able to communicate in KSL or have competent KSL interpreters available in the
school compound and classroom. Demand for KSL courses has increased
dramatically in the last decade. More and more people are learning the language
- more than 2000 people took basic level course in KSL since 1998. However,
there is a major shortage of trained and qualified KSL tutors and assessors.
There is a KSL dictionary, interactive self teaching CD, the Kenya National
Examinations Council, Kenya Institute of Special/Education – KIE/KISE have in
last couple of years been developing curriculum and examination materials for
KSL which began to be used in 2010. The language policy, the special education
policy and the special needs education policy all need to be readjusted to
reiterate the emerging need to have KSL as a mode of instruction in schools for
the Deaf.
With a successful educational system and
foundation for Deaf children will bring about a generation of competent KSL
users and bilingual Deaf citizens able to access information through KSL,
English, Kiswahili and any other languages of the republic of Kenya. Television
stations and the movie industry will have to invest in employing interpreters
for their educational, information and communication services. The Kenyan Sign
Language Interpreters Association (KSLIA) is an indigenous organization of
interpreters formed to train, certify and coordinate interpreter activities in
the republic. The state should allocate funds to develop and promote this
profession. Closed captioning and subtitling will go a long way in improving
accessibility of information to the Deaf Kenyans.
Interpretation services for the youth, young
adults and the adult population users of KSL is vital at all levels of society.
Higher educational facilities need to recruit and train interpretation
professionals for the courses they offer. Colleges and tertiary institutions
need to affirm their commitment to mainstreamed services.
Telecommunication service providers should
review their services with emergence of KSL. Relay, Video conferencing and
Multimedia services are appealing to KSL users due to the visual nature of the
language. This of course will have an impact on the tariffs and revenues of
these service providers. We do not have the space to go into the various
industries – healthcare, social service, law enforcement, disaster and
emergency relief services, etc It is an enormous task to connect the impact of
Deafness on an individual. The diagram below will illustrate the
inter-connectivity and dependency of accessibility of an individual who is
Deaf.
The media especially television will need to
take into account the needs to use KSL interpretation professionals for its
news and programs or embrace captioning and subtitling for equal accessibility.
Impact on Communities
Parents will have to learn KSL to communicate
with their children. Parents of deaf children also receive greatly varying
amounts of information and training in KSL, depending on the area they live in.
However, this level of support remains the exception rather than the rule. Many
parents are denied the choice of a bilingual method of education for their deaf
children.
Responsibilities of the Deaf Citizens
Learn your language, document it, teach it
and use it in pride with pride. Deaf pride will be the mantra! Organize
yourselves to share the rich culture, history and language. You remain as the
only true ambassadors of your communities. Use the language, teach it, record
it and share it on the internet, youtube, Deaftube etc are media avenues
available for you.
Kenyan Sign Language has gone through a
historic monumental experience over the last three decades and it is with a lot
of pride that the Kenya National Association of the Deaf KNAD looks back at the
legacy of our forefathers, they have struggled and some have passed on without
seeing the joy or benefits of their struggle to have KSL recognized, mentioned
or accepted in our country. We salute men and women who since 1987 and earlier
have advocated and stood their ground in making this historical moment
possible. Posterity indeed will forever be grateful to the various individuals
and organizations that have supported this cause. We thank the Kenyan Deaf
community and KSL users allover the country for the support, letters, comments
and views you all shared with the Constitutional Review Committees, without you
KNAD has no voice. KNAD would like to thank the Government of Kenya especially
the Ministries of Gender and Social Service, the Ministries of Youth and
Sports, Education, Office
of the Attorney General, the Committee of Experts, University of Nairobi –
Linguistics Department; World Federation of the Deaf who supported the petition
to have KSL recognized in the new constitution.
The Kenya National
Association of the Deaf (KNAD) is a legal Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).
The organization was founded and registered in 1987 with the Government of
Kenya under the Societies Act of 1968 rule 4. The mission of KNAD is to
advocate Human and Linguistic Rights of the Deaf Community in Kenya. KNAD
membership is drawn from affiliated associations active in all the 47 Counties of Kenya.
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