By Levison Lester

Lilongwe, January 27, MANA: Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Education, Mphatso Nkuonera has said the sign language training which is being conducted in the country will help to minimize communication gap which exists between deaf learners and their teachers during teaching and learning process in schools.

Speaking at Mchinji Teachers Training College (TTC) on Friday while appreciating the progress of the training, Nkuonera said teachers should utilize the knowledge and skills acquired in order to achieve inclusive education among learners in the country.

"The sign language training which has been organized by the ministry with support from UNICEF is targeting 500 specialist teachers in selected districts like Mchinji, Lilongwe, Kasungu, Salima, Dowa, Dedza, Machinga, Mangochi, Chikwawa, Nsanje and Chiradzulu.

After this training, as a ministry, we are hoping that these specialist teachers will fully support learners with deafness in order not to leave anyone behind. This will further help learners with deafness to excel in their studies. Once learners are equipped with necessary skills, the country will be able to achieve inclusive education," he said.

Nkuonera further said sign language training is important in achieving Malawi Agenda 2063 saying the knowledge that learners will acquire in various schools will help to address the communication barrier thereby fostering national development.

In her remarks, one of the instructors at the training, Edna Chigwenembe from Soche Hill Secondary School said the training will help specialist teachers to interact with learners with deafness easily,

She however urged teachers to form Sign Language Clubs in their respective schools where they will be teaching various signs.

Chigwenembe said, "This training will help teachers to perform well because they will be able to interact with learners who have different impairments especially those with deafness easily. We have also asked teachers to incorporate all learners by forming clubs where they will be teaching sign language to every learner."

Speaking on behalf of specialist teachers, Gift Kaunda from Nkhwazi Primary School said the training has equiped them to sign letters, numerals and words easier, and this will help learners with deafness to do better in their studies.