Early childhood caregivers trained in sign language for deaf children
Through the project, caregivers have gained knowledge of sign language skills and effective communication techniques to support children with special needs.
Mangochi, Malawi - Caregivers from 10 Community-Based Child Care Centres (CBCCs) in the district of Mangochi have successfully completed sign language skills training, empowering them to effectively teach and communicate with children who have hearing impairments, writes Ernest Mfunya.
The training, conducted by the Malawi National Association of Deaf (MANAD), aims to promote sign language skills to enhance the quality of special needs education provided to children in CBCCs.
Through the project, caregivers have gained knowledge of sign language skills and effective communication techniques to support children with special needs.
Florence Time, a caregiver from Dream CBCCC in the area of village headman Chomba, Traditional Authority Mponda, expressed her gratitude for the timely and significant training.
She believes it will improve her teaching skills and communication with children.
“The training in sign language skills is very important because it will help me provide quality education to the children. The basic sign language skills will also enable us as caregivers to effectively communicate with children with hearing impairments in our centres,” Time said.
Edina Banda, from Mpinganjira CBCC, Traditional Authority Mponda, shared the challenges she faced before receiving knowledge and skills about sign language.
"Communication between me and children with hearing impairments at the centre was very challenging because I had no knowledge of how to teach them, and they could not understand what I was teaching," Banda said.
She added, “Apart from skills and knowledge about sign language, we have also been given sign language books, which will be used when teaching the children. This will also improve the enrollment of children with hearing problems in the centres, unlike in the past when we could enrol less than five children.”
Madalitso Sanikwa, director of Chanasa CBCCC in the area of Village head Mtalimanja, commended MANAD for organising the training.
He emphasised the need for capacity-building workshops, especially for caregivers, to ensure the delivery of quality education.
Sanikwa urged the association to continue with these interventions to reach more caregivers and promote sign language skills throughout the country.
MANAD Project Coordinator, Sekerani Kufakwina, shared the organization's objective, stating, “We want to ensure that children with hearing problems have access to quality education, just like any other child who is born without a disability. We have given caregivers basic sign language skills and teaching materials such as dictionaries to refer to when teaching deaf children."
Kufakwina added that promoting basic sign language skills in CBCCs can overcome challenges faced by caregivers and children during teaching and learning.
According to Kufakwina, through these interventions, the association will ensure that children have access to Malawian sign language skills, thereby improving education levels for people with hearing impairments by enhancing access to reading materials in Malawian Sign Language.
MANAD is implementing a seven-month project called "Promoting Accessible Malawian Sign Language Books" in various districts, including Mangochi, Phalombe, and Lilongwe.
The project is funded by All Children Reading, World Vision, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Malawian government, and Australian Aid.
The project primarily targets specialised deaf schools, special needs education teachers, parents of deaf children, and ECD caregivers.