A sign of our commitment

Yochanaan Coetzee “Children are not disabled because they cannot walk, hear or see. They are disabled by a society that excludes them,” according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).“At Namibia Media Holdings (NMH), we are committed to ensuring inclusive education remains a top priority. When the online and distance education project was started in 2020, it was important that no child be excluded from being able to learn. Measures were taken to make learning as accessible as possible to every child, regardless of their background or abilities,” Sharnay Botha, the education project co-ordinator at NMH, said.“One of the steps taken to ensure learning was more accessible was translating all online lessons to sign language,” she added.Education for allAccording to the 2011 National Housing and Population Census, 27 503 Namibians are affected by hearing-related impairments.It has also been reported that there has been an increasing demand on special schools for enrolment of learners with hearing impairments. Delayed and sometimes poor language development in learners who have hearing impairments causes a delay in strong language acquisition that, in turn, has a negative impact on academic progress. “It is absolutely crucial that all children are taught through the medium of their mother tongue in the junior primary phase. Namibian Sign Language (NSL) is considered the mother tongue or first language of deaf learners. The language of instruction for deaf learners from junior primary to senior secondary and beyond is thus NSL, with English being used for reading and writing,” Botha explained.Although inclusive education is one of the main objectives of the country, many challenges arise and make this difficult. Supporting children with hearing impairment interpreting services are not always available, especially in remote areas. The lack of professional educational sign language teachers and interpreters with appropriate formal tertiary training is a major concern. This impacts the quality of interpretation services that are available, especially in educational settings. Harnessing mass media technologyThrough the use of online teaching and online sign language interpretation, more children can be reached across the country. They can now receive quality education in their mother tongue as daily online lessons are broadcasted and available online. “Our My Zone Online School have their own two qualified sign language teachers who interpret each and every lesson daily to ensure children with hearing impairments are able to receive quality teaching,” Botha said.Olga José, one of the online school sign language teachers and a life skills teacher at the Hearing Impaired School, further elaborated on this.“Online school has made it possible for learners to learn in a flexible way at their pace, the inclusion of our special [deaf] learners brought tears to our eyes as the aim is ‘education for all’. I am amazed at what has been accomplished so far. Well done to all involved!”Her peer on the project, Salmi Sheya, a teacher at NISE Hearing Impaired School, also lauded the project for its focus on inclusivity.“The online learning programme is great for our learners who have parental support at home. Most of our deaf learners are from poor backgrounds and don’t have access. Making these booklets and programmes available on YouTube for parents who have access is very useful.”“Although a lot of work still needs to be done to ensure Namibian education is truly accessible and inclusive, we are proud the strides we have made thus far. As we grow, we hope to accommodate more and more learners, teachers and schools with learning difficulties to ensure they are able to receive the education they so rightfully deserve. We are always looking to the future to determine how we can continue to improve,” Botha said.

A sign of our commitment

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Republikein 2025-05-01

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A sign of our commitment

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