Deaf Clonee student campaigning to have Irish Sign Language added to Leaving Cert

A Clonee secondary school pupil is one of two deaf students campaigning to have Irish Sign Language (ISL) made a Leaving Certificate examination subject.

The passing by the Oireachtas of the Irish Sign language Act of 2017 gave ISL official language status, alongside Irish and English, but it is not available as a Leaving Certificate exam subject.

Chime, the national charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, says there are over 5,000 deaf and hard of hearing students in the Irish education system, with 95% of those in mainstream schooling.

Ellie Woods (18) from Clonee and Shane Hamilton (17) from Kilcullen, Co Kildare are both Leaving Certificate students at the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Dublin’s Cabra, and say they and other students who are users of ISL are being unfairly disadvantaged in the third level points race.

There are approximately 40,000 daily Deaf and hearing users of ISL.

Currently, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) provides Leaving Certificate examinations in a range of what it refers to as ‘non-curricular EU languages’.

These include Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian, Modern Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Slovakian, Swedish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Croatian and Maltese.

The SEC states on its website 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.

The Irish Sign language Act requires that public services are available through ISL and also outlines the need for greater access to education through sign language.

ISL is Shane’s first language and says the campaign is about equal rights for deaf students.

“I learned ISL before English and it is an official language of the State. 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,” he said.

According to Ellie, 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.

Both students hope to progress to third-level education. Shane has an ambition to study politics, while Ellie hopes at some point to work with deaf children in the area of early intervention.

And they say that placing ISL on the Leaving Certificate curriculum would provide students who are not deaf the option of learning another practical language and gain an understanding of issues faced by the deaf and hard of hearing.

Chime says ISL as a Leaving Certificate exam subject would also benefit family members who are not deaf but who have deaf parents and siblings.

“While my deafness is not a barrier to what I want to achieve, I need the support of a fair system,” said Ellie.

According to Brendan Lennon, Director of Advocacy, Research and Public Affairs at Chime, not having ISL on the Leaving Certificate curriculum clearly marginalises the deaf community, which is already under represented at third level.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Irish Sign Language Awareness Week 2024 takes place until Sunday, September 29.