02 Dec 2014

The Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYSC) and the Botswana Society for the deaf (BSD) have partnered in training 150 interns countrywide on sign language proficiency level one and two

The first phase of the programme targeted interns who were delivering primary social services such as civil and national registration (Omang), policing, immigration, legal aid, public prosecutions, social services, health and financial services.

The programme also centred on the strategic thematic area of the National Youth Policy - youth and disability as a strategy to mainstream disability issues by popularising the sign language as an alternative language in service delivery.

Speaking at the official launch of the training workshop recently, the deputy permanent secretary to MYSC, Mr Kgopotso Ramoroka said the programme was a strategy to enhance the employability of interns considering that sign language interpretation was a rare skill which could be a source of living.

He said the workshop aimed to include increasing accessibility of services to youth and people with disabilities noting that the initiative was a deliberate, targeted approach by the ministry on the objective of advancing inclusive development.

The internship programme coordinator, Ms Boitshepo Bolele said sign language was a universal language and an important form of communication that people should all learn in order to reach out to the deaf. She added that sign language that connected people and marketable.

Chairperson of BSD, Mr Roy Letsatsi, appreciated the awareness that the programme is going to make on the importance of learning Sign Language communication by other service providers and ordinary citizens of the country.

He encouraged people to reach out to the deaf, seek to understand them and learn more from them in order to break the language barrier between deaf and hearing people.

Graduands of the sign language programme are expected to establish sign language clubs in the different service areas for purposes of practice, retention and promotion of the newly acquired skill. BOPA