Date: 02/03/2004
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: K Asmal: Launch of Sign Language Videos, Learning & Teaching Support Materials
ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR KADER ASMAL, MP, MINISTER OF EDUCATION, AT THE LAUNCH OF SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE VIDEOS, LEARNING AND TEACHING SUPPORT MATERIALS, TUESDAY, ELDORADO PARK, 2 March 2003
Salutation
My colleague, the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the MEC for Education in Gauteng, Mr Ignatius Jacobs, the National Director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa, Mr Bruno Druchen, with whom my department works closely. I am also pleased to meet members of the South African National AIDS Council, officials from the Departments of Health and Education, principals and educators present here today and all learners. It gives me great pleasure today to be with you as we all participate in this groundbreaking activity.
This occasion marks the first time since the two ministries took up the challenge in the fight against the spread of HIV, that learning materials have been developed using South African Sign Language, one of our country's official languages.
When I became Minister of Education in 1999, I issued a 'Call to Action', which identified nine priorities for education. One priority was to build vital and inclusive school communities, with special attention to learners with special needs, so that all learners would feel welcome in our schools. Another priority was to deal purposefully with HIV/AIDS through education to further our national programme of prevention, treatment and care. Today, in launching these learning materials, I am delighted to see these two priorities coming together. We are showing once again that we were serious in calling for action to build inclusive school communities of learning and health.
Need to increase access to information
We are all aware that HIV and AIDS is a serious crisis for the health, lives, and well being of our people. The Nelson Mandela Foundation/Human Science Research Council (HSRC) Report on the prevalence of HIV in our country gave a sobering profile of the threat to our national health. But the report also gave us hope that our educational efforts are having an effect: 84 percent of our people between the ages of 12 and 24 had learned about the causes and prevention of HIV in our schools.
When the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Health, began the campaign against the spread of HIV in our schools, we developed learning materials in the major languages of our country. As the programme grew, the need to make information available to all learners and educators in all official languages became apparent. Not only did we need to reach learners, but we also had to make information available to parents and teachers in all South African languages.
In the absence of a vaccine and a cure for the epidemic, knowledge about prevention is our 'social vaccine' against HIV. Education is our 'social antidote' to the ignorance that makes us vulnerable to disease. But in developing our educational interventions, we have to be inclusive to ensure that children who experience barriers to learning are as well informed as other learners in the mainstream. My ministry is committed to ensuring that all learners have access to education, knowledge and life-skills for health so they can be protected from diseases and in particular from HIV.
Research all over the world has shown that literacy rates among individuals who experience barriers including different forms of disability to learning are very low. In the Southern African region, where many children who experience barriers to learning are still unable to access education, literacy rates are exceptionally low, making the communication of information about HIV and AIDS very challenging. Usually, learning materials are packaged in print and electronic formats that are difficult to understand, given the various barriers that learners experience. If our learners cannot fully grasp the educational messages about preventing infection and the spread of HIV then they are at greater risk.
Acknowledging this difficulty, the government decided on a strategy to communicate with children in South African Sign Language to increase their awareness and understanding of issues of hygiene, substance abuse, child abuse, safety, HIV prevention and gender and sexuality education. By using South African Sign Language, we are able to reach learners who would otherwise be excluded, as well as those whose understanding may have been hindered by low literacy level.
What makes children who experience difficulty with traditional communication vulnerable to HIV and AIDS?
All of our children are potentially at risk of abuse, but children who experience difficulty with traditional communication are particularly at risk because they supposedly "cannot tell about the incident" if they are molested. These learning materials aim to strengthen these children not only by giving them accurate and valuable information for their own protection, but also the courage and the voice to break the silence about the abuse of learners in our communities.
The videos we are launching today in South African Sign Language have harnessed the considerable talents of learners in our schools. They seek to bring messages on a number of themes relating to life-skills to learners from the ages of three to eighteen. It is my hope that these videos will be put to good use and that they will lead to the development of more such materials designed to enhance the learning experience of all learners, with or without barriers to learning. An informed child is a protected child. A well-informed learner is a better-protected learner.
I am also pleased to note that this co-operation between the two ministries will lead the way to more cooperation between our two departments in the area of early assessment and screening of children to enable the timely provision of quality care and education. The well being of all learners is of paramount importance to my ministry in realising our goals of producing the skilled citizens of the 21st Century.
Therefore, the provision of these videos in South African Sign Language marks an important step in overcoming barriers to learning and the integration of our children with disabilities into the school system, special or otherwise. These resources will enhance the education of children who would otherwise not have received the full benefit of learning a range of necessary life-skills. As specified in the Revised National Curriculum Statement, the area of Life Orientation nurtures life-skills that will empower to lead free and fulfilling lives.
Health Promotion enables learners to make informed decisions about personal, community, and environmental health.
Social Development enables learners to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to constitutional rights and responsibilities and show an understanding of diverse cultures and religions.
Personal Development enables learners to use acquired life-skills to achieve and extend their potential to respond effectively to the challenges their world.
Physical Development and Movement enables learners to demonstrate an understanding of, and participate in, activities that promote movement and physical development.
Orientation to the World of Work enables learners to make informed decisions about further study and career choices.
Our dedication to creating an inclusive learning environment is clear in the Revised National Curriculum Statement through its flexible features and our current endeavours to produce guidelines so that the curriculum becomes accessible to all. At this time a curriculum adaptation workgroup is finalizing guidelines on curriculum adaptation. In this way we are translating the RNCS principles of human rights, inclusivity and social justice into practice in our classrooms throughout this country. Our commitment to multilingualism is evident in the Language Learning Area, which includes Braille and South African Sign Language. We have undertaken to advance South African Sign Language-as a language of teaching and learning-by developing unit standards and by developing learning materials such as the videos we are launching today.
These learning materials demonstrate our commitment - a commitment shared by the Department of Education and the Department of Health - to ensuring that our country is a caring community and that our schools are inclusive communities of care.
I thank you all.
Issued by: Ministry of Education
2 March 2004
Source: Ministry of Education
Title: K Asmal: Launch of Sign Language Videos, Learning & Teaching Support Materials
ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR KADER ASMAL, MP, MINISTER OF EDUCATION, AT THE LAUNCH OF SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE VIDEOS, LEARNING AND TEACHING SUPPORT MATERIALS, TUESDAY, ELDORADO PARK, 2 March 2003
Salutation
My colleague, the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the MEC for Education in Gauteng, Mr Ignatius Jacobs, the National Director of the Deaf Federation of South Africa, Mr Bruno Druchen, with whom my department works closely. I am also pleased to meet members of the South African National AIDS Council, officials from the Departments of Health and Education, principals and educators present here today and all learners. It gives me great pleasure today to be with you as we all participate in this groundbreaking activity.
This occasion marks the first time since the two ministries took up the challenge in the fight against the spread of HIV, that learning materials have been developed using South African Sign Language, one of our country's official languages.
When I became Minister of Education in 1999, I issued a 'Call to Action', which identified nine priorities for education. One priority was to build vital and inclusive school communities, with special attention to learners with special needs, so that all learners would feel welcome in our schools. Another priority was to deal purposefully with HIV/AIDS through education to further our national programme of prevention, treatment and care. Today, in launching these learning materials, I am delighted to see these two priorities coming together. We are showing once again that we were serious in calling for action to build inclusive school communities of learning and health.
Need to increase access to information
We are all aware that HIV and AIDS is a serious crisis for the health, lives, and well being of our people. The Nelson Mandela Foundation/Human Science Research Council (HSRC) Report on the prevalence of HIV in our country gave a sobering profile of the threat to our national health. But the report also gave us hope that our educational efforts are having an effect: 84 percent of our people between the ages of 12 and 24 had learned about the causes and prevention of HIV in our schools.
When the Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Health, began the campaign against the spread of HIV in our schools, we developed learning materials in the major languages of our country. As the programme grew, the need to make information available to all learners and educators in all official languages became apparent. Not only did we need to reach learners, but we also had to make information available to parents and teachers in all South African languages.
In the absence of a vaccine and a cure for the epidemic, knowledge about prevention is our 'social vaccine' against HIV. Education is our 'social antidote' to the ignorance that makes us vulnerable to disease. But in developing our educational interventions, we have to be inclusive to ensure that children who experience barriers to learning are as well informed as other learners in the mainstream. My ministry is committed to ensuring that all learners have access to education, knowledge and life-skills for health so they can be protected from diseases and in particular from HIV.
Research all over the world has shown that literacy rates among individuals who experience barriers including different forms of disability to learning are very low. In the Southern African region, where many children who experience barriers to learning are still unable to access education, literacy rates are exceptionally low, making the communication of information about HIV and AIDS very challenging. Usually, learning materials are packaged in print and electronic formats that are difficult to understand, given the various barriers that learners experience. If our learners cannot fully grasp the educational messages about preventing infection and the spread of HIV then they are at greater risk.
Acknowledging this difficulty, the government decided on a strategy to communicate with children in South African Sign Language to increase their awareness and understanding of issues of hygiene, substance abuse, child abuse, safety, HIV prevention and gender and sexuality education. By using South African Sign Language, we are able to reach learners who would otherwise be excluded, as well as those whose understanding may have been hindered by low literacy level.
What makes children who experience difficulty with traditional communication vulnerable to HIV and AIDS?
All of our children are potentially at risk of abuse, but children who experience difficulty with traditional communication are particularly at risk because they supposedly "cannot tell about the incident" if they are molested. These learning materials aim to strengthen these children not only by giving them accurate and valuable information for their own protection, but also the courage and the voice to break the silence about the abuse of learners in our communities.
The videos we are launching today in South African Sign Language have harnessed the considerable talents of learners in our schools. They seek to bring messages on a number of themes relating to life-skills to learners from the ages of three to eighteen. It is my hope that these videos will be put to good use and that they will lead to the development of more such materials designed to enhance the learning experience of all learners, with or without barriers to learning. An informed child is a protected child. A well-informed learner is a better-protected learner.
I am also pleased to note that this co-operation between the two ministries will lead the way to more cooperation between our two departments in the area of early assessment and screening of children to enable the timely provision of quality care and education. The well being of all learners is of paramount importance to my ministry in realising our goals of producing the skilled citizens of the 21st Century.
Therefore, the provision of these videos in South African Sign Language marks an important step in overcoming barriers to learning and the integration of our children with disabilities into the school system, special or otherwise. These resources will enhance the education of children who would otherwise not have received the full benefit of learning a range of necessary life-skills. As specified in the Revised National Curriculum Statement, the area of Life Orientation nurtures life-skills that will empower to lead free and fulfilling lives.
Health Promotion enables learners to make informed decisions about personal, community, and environmental health.
Social Development enables learners to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to constitutional rights and responsibilities and show an understanding of diverse cultures and religions.
Personal Development enables learners to use acquired life-skills to achieve and extend their potential to respond effectively to the challenges their world.
Physical Development and Movement enables learners to demonstrate an understanding of, and participate in, activities that promote movement and physical development.
Orientation to the World of Work enables learners to make informed decisions about further study and career choices.
Our dedication to creating an inclusive learning environment is clear in the Revised National Curriculum Statement through its flexible features and our current endeavours to produce guidelines so that the curriculum becomes accessible to all. At this time a curriculum adaptation workgroup is finalizing guidelines on curriculum adaptation. In this way we are translating the RNCS principles of human rights, inclusivity and social justice into practice in our classrooms throughout this country. Our commitment to multilingualism is evident in the Language Learning Area, which includes Braille and South African Sign Language. We have undertaken to advance South African Sign Language-as a language of teaching and learning-by developing unit standards and by developing learning materials such as the videos we are launching today.
These learning materials demonstrate our commitment - a commitment shared by the Department of Education and the Department of Health - to ensuring that our country is a caring community and that our schools are inclusive communities of care.
I thank you all.
Issued by: Ministry of Education
2 March 2004
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