Two deaf students in Ireland are campaigning to have Irish Sign Language (ISL) made a Leaving Cert subject.
Shane Hamilton, 17, and Ellie Woods, 18, are both Leaving Certificate students at the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Dublin’s Cabra. They claim that they and other students who are users of ISL are being unfairly disadvantaged in the third level points race.
The Oireachtas passing of the Irish Sign language Act of 2017 granted ISL official language status, alongside Irish and English, but it is still not available as a Leaving Certificate exam subject.
Meanwhile, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) currently provides Leaving Certificate examinations in a range of ‘non-curricular EU languages,' including Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian, Modern Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Slovakian, Swedish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Croatian and Maltese.
On its website, the commission states that it is its policy to accede to requests to provide examinations for native speakers in their mother tongue in the case of national languages of EU states, as per Article 149 of the Treaty of Nice.
Shane, whose first language is ISL, says the campaign is about equal rights for deaf students.
“I learned ISL before English and it is an official language of the State," he says.
"Surely it is only fair that I sit a Leaving Certificate examination in it? Other students get to sit an exam in their first language."
According to Chime, Ireland's national charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, there are approximately 40,000 daily deaf and hearing users of ISL in the country. The Irish education system has over 5,000 deaf and hard of hearing students, with 95% of those in mainstream schooling.
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Ellie says that the provision of an ISL Leaving Certificate examination would remediate the fact that many deaf students are unable to learn Irish.
“It is about getting the points that deaf Leaving Certificate students deserve. A lot of colleges require a grade in Irish but many deaf students are unable to study it,” she said.
“While my deafness is not a barrier to what I want to achieve, I need the support of a fair system,” she adds.
Both students plan to progress to third-level education. Shane wants to study politics, while Ellie hopes to work with deaf children in the area of early intervention.
They say adding ISL on the Leaving Certificate curriculum would give students who are not deaf the option of learning another practical language and gain an understanding of the challenges faced by the deaf and hard of hearing.
According to Chime, making ISL as a Leaving Certificate exam subject would also benefit family members who are not deaf but who have deaf parents and siblings.
Brendan Lennon, Director of Advocacy, Research and Public Affairs at Chime, says: “It is manifestly unfair and disadvantages deaf students because it means they cannot compete on the same basis as their peers for third level places and career opportunities. It is blatant inequality.
“Aside from ignoring an indigenous Irish language, the failure to include ISL as a Leaving Certificate examination subject runs counter to the inclusivity and equality which should underpin education.”
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