Debated in Parliament on 19 Sep 2023.
Mr Ong Hua Han asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) whether the Ministry will consider providing Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) interpretation services during significant Government live TV broadcasts; (b) when will SgSL receive official recognition as one of Singapore’s languages given its legal status in 77 countries as a sign-language used by the deaf; and (c) whether there are plans to increase support for SgSL instruction providers and to increase the number of SgSL interpreters.
Mr Speaker, since April 2020, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) has required TV broadcasts of significant national and public interest, such as National Day Rally and Budget speeches, to be accompanied by Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) interpretation. MCI will continue to make Government communications and information more accessible and inclusive to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community, and work with Mediacorp to enhance accessibility features on free-to-air (FTA) TV channels.
For students who require signing support in schools, SgSL is the language for academic instruction and communication. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has designated mainstream and special education schools to provide signing support in SgSL for students diagnosed with hearing loss. Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) have funds to support students diagnosed with hearing loss, including sign language interpretation services.
In the community, the Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf) is funded to promote the use of SgSL and to provide deaf access services, which include SgSL interpretation, note-taking services, and sign language courses. Deaf and hard-of-hearing persons can also tap on the Temasek-Trust CDC Lifelong Learning Enabling Fund to pay for their sign language class fees and deaf access services when attending training courses by selected providers.
The Government is studying the recognition of SgSL as Singapore’s official sign language, in consultation with the Deaf community. As SgSL is currently already used in practice, we need to consider how official recognition will bring tangible benefits to the Deaf community. Instead, we will continue to work with the Deaf community to improve the provision of deaf access services to the community.
PAPERCUTS