The Special Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has been called on to adapt and maintain a standard dictionary to aid the Deaf community and the citizens of Ghana in communication. The president of Ayele Foundation, Mr. Obeng Boateng, presented the Ghanaian Sign language Dictionary, which the foundation had developed, to the Special Education Division of GES in Accra.
According to Mr. Obeng Boateng, this would diminish communication barriers among Deaf individuals and enable effective communication between people from all backgrounds. He said that research conducted by Ayele, together with experts in sign language across the country, revealed that the use of the language differs from region to region and has no uniformity. Sign language is different and tied to the culture of a country, and Ghana has adapted ASL in many instances. Mr. Obeng Boateng further stressed that the prototype of the dictionary has all words organized by letter and would enable families and people who want to study GSL to do so and communicate effectively. “This would create employment for the deaf and enable institutional representation of people living with the condition in all sectors of the country,” he said.
He called on governments for assistance, both with private sectors and with NGOs including his own, in order to implement policies to help those
living with disability. There are many difficulties faced by those with disabilities, including technological and infrastructural roadblocks. One example is that it is very difficult to teach mathematics to those who are hearing impaired. A Sign Language dictionary was created to help create a standard for the ten regions of Ghana to use to communicate. Ayele Foundation plans to provide funding for the cost of the dictionary production including the per diem of signers, facility and electronic costs.
Anthony Boateng, Director of the Special Education Division (GES), said that there would be a need to “create a basis for stakeholder consultation for standards since there are different signs across the regions”. He stated that the dictionary could be used and adapted to reach a broader audience and that it could do a lot of good for the entire country.
Nathan Pecku, Head of Unit for the Deaf and Hard Hearing, GES said the dictionary would “bring relief to parents with children living with the condition to learn and communicate better instead of discriminating against them and would also enable communication among students living with the condition to communicate when they meet at inter schools programs and improve their academic work”.
