BSL:UPTAKE » Blog Archive » 3. How can the number of people able to use British Sign Language be increased?

3. How can the number of people able to use British Sign Language be increased?

Education is the most essential area in which there is the opportunity for children to acquire BSL and so develop the use of BSL in Scotland. This consultation paper proposes that there should be provision for BSL:

- To be used in pre-school settings; and

- To be taught at primary and secondary level for all children, in the same way other languages are taught.

To achieve this, this paper proposes that there should be changes made to teacher training qualifications to increase the opportunities for Deaf people to gain a qualification in teaching, including the teaching of language. BSL should also be introduced as a higher education subject, to help increase the number of BSL interpreters as a result of more people learning sign language at school, college, university and at evening classes. Again, opportunities have to be made available for more Deaf people to gain the qualifications needed to become teachers of higher education.