NCERT signs agreement to develop resources for Indian Sign Language

NEW DELHI: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), on Tuesday, signed an agreement with the Indian Sign Language Research And Training Center (ISLRTC) to come up with resources to standardize the Indian Sign Language.

The agreement was signed on the occasion of the 60th foundation day of NCERT.

Speaking at the occasion, education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said : “This new initiative by the NCERT and ISLRTC for the specially abled children, especially for those who cannot hear or speak, will help to guide them along with the rest of the students in terms of education.”

The ISLRTC, launched by the Ministry of Education in 2015, is an institute focused on developing resources for specially abled children.

Officials said that the priority will be to convert textbooks into the Indian Sign Language for Classes 1 to 5 and later for Classes 6 to 12. ISLRTC will provide the educators, interpreters and resources for this task.

Shakuntala Doley Gamlin, secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Person With Disabilities, said:“Since interpreters are not widely available, students with hearing disability are neglected. By providing these resources we can ensure basic literacy and numeracy skills as well as equal opportunity for all students.”

Anita Karwal, secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, said: “The focus of the National Education Policy is on multilingualism. The Indian Sign Language is part of it not only for inclusion but as a language for all students to learn.

Karwal also urged state officials to develop a module that ensures that all children will learn the Indian Sign Language and not just the specially-abled.

“It is important to develop a language module for all children to learn the Indian Sign Language as it contributes to the important linguistic ability for children,” Karwal said.

Karwal also urged state authorities to work on inputs for the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) which is to be launched by 2020-21 as per the National Education Policy.

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