Why Indian Sign Language must be standardised?

WHO estimates almost 7 million hearing impaired people in India. 98% of them drop out before high school .

Reason?

Lack of teachers who knows sign language.

Well yeah, but it’s much more complicated than that. Let’s dive into it.

Lack of mutual standardisation has caused 98% of children to drop-out of school.

Sign Languages have been around since 1800s, thanks to French and American deaf communities. Today American Sign Language (or ASL) has around 5 million active speakers. However, surprisingly most nations have their own version of sign language . We have Chinese Sign Language, Russian Sign Language, Czech Sign Language ,British Sign Language and so on. India, however has its own flavour of sign language, much similar to British.

The complication doesn’t stop here. In India, North region has its own variation, so is South , East and West. For a girl, in north India, the sign is to point at the nose ring. Whereas in the south, the person points at the bindi or the centre of the forehead. On the other hand, there are certain words for which the sign is the same — as for couple and pair.

Ranveer Singh and some activists have advocated for standardisation, but the stakeholders and complexities involved in the procedure remains neglected.

You might be wondering why even do that? Isn’t effective communication is more important than Patriotism? Well not to the management personnel involved.

Along with lack of awareness , there is social stigma attached to it. Parents of deaf children consider it taboo. As long there is shame and guilt attached to learn sign language , it is not surprising that the movement is slow.

To combat variations and awareness , standardisation is utmost important. Regional consultation from North, East, West and South communities are required . A set of agreed principles, syntax, letters & words is essential. Lack of knowledge of sign language in our country has meant that deaf people drop out of the education system rapidly, and despite quotas in government jobs, they are unable to benefit from them.

Today, millions of deaf people are forced to learn how to function in the world of the hearing. Someday, if standardised, they can immerse in their own world.

Adios.