A full-time multi-format education project for children with hearing disabilities has been launched in Belgorod Oblast. The objective of the project is to train more than 60 teachers in communication skills using Russian sign language.
According to The Federal Public information system "Disabled people", the Belgorod Oblast is ranked 5th by the number of disabled children in the Central Federal District. There are 5,621 disabled children in the region. Today there are only two laboratories which study Russian sign language in the country. Teachers of one of them – from Novosibirsk State Technical University NETI – were invited to run a series of Russian sign language training courses.
Sign language courses were held on March 19-27.
"It is necessary to provide conditions for children with hearing impairment, so they are able to socialize, get a multi-format education, acquire a profession and therefore become independent on the state care. To do so we should use understandable, native sign language in education, so they do not lag behind", says Yuri Shashnin, the Chairman of the Belgorod Regional Branch of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf.
"Being the Institute which implements inclusive education comprising deaf students education among others, we find it very important to cooperate with schools for the deaf. After school these students come to us to continue education, and the better the schooling, the more opportunities these students will have to get comprehensive vocational education and higher education" said Olga A. Varinova, the head of the Russian sign language laboratory at NSTU NETI.
The Presidential Grants Foundation and the Siberian RSL Translation Association support the project.