Deaf students at the primary level will soon be the beneficiaries of deaf-friendly learning resources thanks to an $800,000 donation by Scotiabank Guyana.
The bank yesterday presented the Deaf Association of Guyana (DAG) with US$4,000 to finance the production of deaf-friendly resources for Mathematics, Literacy, Science and Social Studies.
Sabine McIntosh, President of DAG, noted that the already disadvantaged position of deaf students is aggravated by the absence of teaching materials and presents a near insurmountable challenge to teachers of the deaf.
“It effectively precludes students from mastering core subjects at the primary level, which in turn negatively impacts their future education, vocational training and employability,” McIntosh said. She continued, “As sign language is a deaf person’s primary language, all subject matter must be taught in sign language, and this is a prerequisite to become literate in written English and thus bilingual.”
The $800,000 funding will be used to develop a series of DVDs for three age levels with the content reflecting the school curriculum. All information will be presented in sign language along with additional visual material. The finished product will be used to benefit some five schools with deaf students in regions 3, 4, 6, and 10.
Manager of Scotiabank Jennifer Cipriani noted the benefits of the project and pointed out that the return on the investment will be huge. She further stated that members of the deaf community can now look forward to a brighter future, where they can contribute positively to national development.
The project was funded under the bank’s Bright Future Programme, which brings together all of the bank’s “charitable, social and community efforts and employee volunteer activities under one banner.”
During the past year, the bank’s local employees have volunteered over 1,200 hours to fundraising and other projects that have benefitted over 8,000 children and 1,000 under-privileged adults in the areas of health, education and social well-being, a release from Scotiabank said.
