Sign Language Education: PANSALB and the SABC Education briefings

Joint Monitoring Committee on Children, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

20 June 2008
Chairperson: Ms W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee heard briefings from the Pan South African Language Board and the SABC about their efforts to create conditions for the development and use of sign language. Members asked questions about the Sign Language dictionary, what was being done train teachers in Sign Language, the role of the Provincial Language Committees, the needs of deaf people in broadcasting, the incoherent manner in which subtitling was done by the SABC, the late adoption of a Strategy on Disability, black disabled achievers not being visible on SABC programmes, and the effects of Digital Migration on people with disabilities.

Meeting report

Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB) Briefing on Sign Language Education
Ms Ntombenhle Nkosi (PANSALB CEO) first introduced the Pan South African Language Board to the Committee, explaining its legislative mandate, powers and functions. She then provided a briefing on South African Sign Language (SASL) explaining its development. She moved on to look at each of the provinces and identiy what training and public awareness initiatives it had delivered to promote South African Sign Language. Finally she touched on the challenges faced by some of the provinces and the key initiatives for 2008/09.

Discussion
Ms J Chalmers (ANC) asked what had been happening in the KZN and the Eastern Cape with regard to PANSALB initiatives. She enquired about the role of the Language Committees. She mentioned the fact that she came from a family that had some deaf people and they were more marginalized than blind people. She wanted to know the role of the Sign Language dictionary in helping deaf people.

Ms Nkosi replied that the KZN and the Eastern Cape were late in submitting their budget votes. The role of the Provincial Language Committee was to interact with the MECs of all departments to address language issues. The Sign Language Dictionary was in the process of being upgraded. The Lexicography Unit was established to preserve languages. The University of Fort Hare and the Lexicography Unit had collaborated in creating the IsiXhosa Dictionary.

Mr F Madella (ANC) suggested that there should be more vigorous means to educate deaf prisoners. He asked about the studies on the development of Sign Language. He added that deaf students who relied on lip reading were at a disadvantage because teachers did not always make eye contact.

Ms Nkosi replied that PANSALB had made suggestions and the Ministry would then decide whether those studies should be undertaken or not. The PANSALB had no punitive powers to deal with people who discriminated against the deaf. Ms Nkosi mentioned that there was a need for the country to have dedicated Sign Language Departments in their teacher-training institutions. She cited an example of the University of South Africa that had closed down the teacher-training unit responsible for Sign Language.

Ms E Ngaleka (ANC) asked about the actions that had been taken to establish a school for the deaf in Northern Cape. She asked for the required total number of deaf people that would justify the establishment of a school for the deaf. She also asked for the number of deaf students per province, and how much the PANSALB annual budget was.

Ms Nkosi replied that PANSALB budget was getting smaller and smaller every year. She mentioned the fact billions of rands were spent to fund literacy programmes to cater for the needs of 7 million people. Yet PANSALB only got R50 million. PANSALB would forward the number of deaf people per province.

The Chairperson suggested that the financial report could be emailed to the Committee. The Schools Act stipulated that Sign Language was a medium of instruction. In KZN a voluntary teacher was trained in Sign Language after she volunteered for six months then was employed.

The Chairperson was disturbed by the fact that the Sign Language dictionary had been gathering dust. She suggested that the Sign Language dictionary could be converted into a much more interactive format such as a DVD or be made available on a web-portal.

Ms Nkosi said that there was a possibility that teachers were ignorant about the needs of the deaf. She said that her organisation would be working with the Department of Education to monitor Sign Language Teachers. Sign Language was a living and evolving language; hence the need for the review of the Dictionary

Ms Mdlalose (NDC) mentioned that the Inkandla Teacher Training Institute had a dedicated unit for sign language. PANSALB and the Departments of Education and Arts and Culture should collaborate on awareness programmes on Sign Language. She confessed that she had been ignorant about the rights of people with disabilities.

Ms Nkosi replied that the teacher training colleges had been closed down and the training of teachers that had been done by universities was not enough. She asked the Committee to take the matter up with the Minister of Education. She said that if languages were made a priority and PANSALB was given the necessary help, the country could see results within five years.

Ms Nngaleka raised her concern about funding rollovers. She said that rollovers led to budget cuts because the allocated money had not been spent in the previous year.

Ms Nkosi replied that PANSALB did not have a rollover instead there was a deficit.

Ms Chalmers suggested that PANSALB should forward a full financial report to the Committee.

Mr Madella asked whether there were deaf people on the Provincial Language Committees. He asked the extent of the deaf people who were involved in making the Sign Language DVD Dictionary. He noted that the slogan of the Disabled People’s Organisation was “Nothing for us without us”. The slogan emphasised the need for inclusiveness.

Ms Nkosi replied that the Provincial Language Committee in the Western Cape was run by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport. She mentioned that the Minister would be establishing a Language Practitioners Council.

Mr M Moss (ANC) said that Worcester has one of the best deaf schools in the country. He asked how PANSALB measured the progress of their investment in the Worcester School for the Deaf.

The Chairperson asked what had happened to the people who received the short-course training. Training was supposed to take three to four years to qualify a person in sign language. South Africa had only seven qualified Sign Language interpreters, of which three were based in Parliament. She asked PANSALB to work with the University of South Africa in training more people in Sign Language. She mentioned that Worcester School for the Deaf was a white, male-dominated, conservative school, that used deaf people as puppets to get funding. She asked what was the nature of the relationship between PANSALB and the SABC.

Ms Nkosi replied that her organisation had been working with the SABC on improving the quality of subtitles. PANSALB worked only with established entities, that was why they had been supporting Worcester. PANSALB would take up any recommendations from the Committee regarding the deaf school in question.

Mr Madella agreed with the Chairperson on the number of qualified Sign Language Interpreters. He suggested that PANSALB could work with the Department of Health and train heath workers in Sign Language. He felt that PANSALB should be able to access some of the R7 billion earmarked for literacy.

Ms Nkosi replied that her organisation would approach the Department of Health to train health workers properly. The R6 billion that was set aside for literacy was ring fenced. Departments were territorial, and they had their own agendas when it came to spending their funds.

Mr Moss enquired about the effectiveness and the duration of the training provided to the people in the provinces.

Ms Nkosi replied that the three-day training amounted to an awareness campaign because it would take years to train people properly. A bursary scheme would be starting in February 2009. She made a plea to Members to help PANSALB get more funds.

The Chairperson said that the Committee would be looking at the budget of PANSALB and their financial report and then communicate with the Minister. She said that wished the newly elected Board good luck.

SABC briefing
Ms
Kanyisiwe Mkhonza, SABC Board Chairperson, provided an introduction explaining the makeup of SABC’s television channels and radio stations, its corporate goals, organisational values and strategic pillars.

Mr Philly Moilwa, SABC Manager: Policy and Regulation, spoke on its regulatory framework, licence conditions, and its Code on People with Disabilities.

Ms Jacquie Hlongwane, Head: Reversioning & Repurposing Unit, spoke on the SABC Strategy on Disability that included the needs of deaf people. She also explained SABC’s current approaches to subtitling and sign language. She then identified the challenges they faced and their future plans and considerations.
 
Discussion
Ms Ngaleka asked the reason why the subtitles were usually late. She gave the example of the State of the Nation Address. She also wanted to know about the progress with job rotation.

Ms Hlongwane replied that the subtitling was a special skill that required a interpreter to capture the meaning in a few words. She said that the SABC needed voice recognition software that would translate immediately.

Mr Madella said that government departments and the SABC were always complaining about money. There was always an excuse when it came to issues that dealt with people with disabilities. He said that Members did not understand why the strategy only came into being in December 2007. He asked the reason that some programmes had partial subtitles. He said that job rotation was supposed to alleviate monotony, but it might lead to lowering of salaries.

Ms Mkhonza replied that awareness had to start with the management. The Strategy had taken longer because management had to be conscientised first and people in general took very long to change. She mentioned the fact that the reception area at the SABC did not have a person who understood sign language.

Ms Fadila Lagadien, SABC Board member, mentioned that the Strategy had taken a long time because of the awareness programme that had targeted the SABC personnel.

Mr Moss said that the SABC should be consistent in providing wall to wall subtitling in all programmes. Subtitles were quite helpful in helping people understand other languages. He felt strongly that the SABC Board should reflect the South African population including people with all disabilities. All programmes commissioned by the SABC should make people with disabilities visible, especially black disabled achievers. He asked whether the SABC had disabled producers.

Ms Mkhonza replied that all the prime time news on SABC TV stations had subtitles because it was one of the licence requirements as required by ICASA. She admitted that the Sign Language was not consistent on news bulletin, but the SABC was getting there. He asked whether were there any producers who catered for people with disabilities. The SABC would forward Employment Equity stats to the Committee at a later stage.

Ms Mdlalose suggested closer co-operation between the SABC and PANSALB.

Ms Hlongwane replied that the SABC would be cooperating with PANSALB on future ventures.

The Chairperson said that during the State of the Nation Address, Sign Language interpreters were only visible when DeafSA contacted the SABC. She reiterated Mr Madella’s question on the Strategy and the importance of Sign Language in language development. She said that in Namibia, Sign Language was part of daily television. She enquired about Digital Migration and its implication for the deaf.

Ms Mkhonza replied that Digital Migration would be tested in November and implemented in 2011. She said that decoders would be used for the current television sets to be able to receive digital signals. There would be dual transmission, both analogue and digital, during the transition period starting from November 2008 to 2011. The digital decoder would cost about R400 but as more decoders were produced, prices would go down. The Department of Communications was looking at ways of subsidising the Digital Decoders.

The Chairperson mentioned that initial research showed that hearing people complained that Sign Language interpreters were a distraction on TV. She suggested that the SABC should use the word Deaf, rather than “hearing impaired” adding that there was nothing broken about being deaf. She said that the SABC was defensive when it came to dealing with complaints from the deaf people.

Mr Madella asked whether the SABC was ready for 2010.

Ms Bessie Tugwana General Manager: SABC 2, replied that the SABC would be introducing a new channel dedicated to sport. She said that the SABC was ready for 2010.

The meeting adjourned.

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