'It's like we're lesser' - Call for ISL as exam subject

Two deaf school students have appealed to the Department of Education to make Irish Sign Language available as a Leaving Certificate exam subject.

Sixth year students Ellie Woods and Shane Hamilton say it is unfair and discriminatory that students can sit exams in a wide range of EU and other languages, but not ISL, despite the fact that it is recognised in Ireland as an official language.

The two Leaving Certificate students have written to the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to raise their concerns.

Shane and Ellie both attend Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra, Dublin. They say they and other students who use ISL are being unfairly disadvantaged in the third-level points race, because they cannot sit an exam in ISL.

The SEC offers Leaving Certificate examinations in a range of what it refers to as 'non-curricular EU languages'. These include Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian, Modern Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Slovakian, Swedish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Croatian and Maltese.

While these languages are not taught in Irish schools, native speakers can choose to sit a Leaving Certificate exam in one of them. This is what Ellie and Shane want for ISL.

ISL is Shane’s native language. He learned English as a second language when he began to attend school.

"It feels like we are lesser than them"

In 2017 ISL was given official language status in Ireland, alongside Irish and English, but it is not available as a Leaving Certificate exam subject.

"I learned ISL before English and it is an official language of the State," Shane said.

"Surely it is only fair that I sit a Leaving Certificate examination in it? Other students get to sit an exam in their first language".

"It feels like we are lesser than them," Ellie said. "ISL is recognised but it is not one of [the leaving Certificate languages]".

Ellie said that recognising ISL in the Leaving Certificate alongside other languages would remediate the fact that many deaf students are unable to learn Irish.

"It is about getting the points that deaf Leaving Certificate students deserve. A lot of colleges require a grade in Irish but many deaf students are unable to study it," she said.

Both Ellie and Shane plan to progress on to third-level. Shane wants to study politics and Ellie would like to work with deaf children in the area of early intervention.

But both feel that treating ISL in the same way as other languages would do something deeper too, it would give status to the language and by extension, recognition to the deaf culture that the language is intertwined with.

"This would teach everyone that there is a deaf community"

"Not recognising ISL [in the Leaving Cert] I think creates this vision of 'oh because they use hands it’s different, it’s not a real language'," Shane said.

"And I think that’s just an unfair image because ISL is so different from what you see, you think it is just English translated but it’s not, you cut out different words, it has a different grammar structure."

"For us it would mean that in mainstream schools future deaf students wouldn’t feel isolated, like myself in primary school," Ellie said.

"This would teach everyone that there is a deaf community."

According to the national charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, Chime, there are over 5,000 deaf and hard of hearing students in the Irish education system, with 95% of those in mainstream schooling.

There are approximately 40,000 daily deaf and hard of hearing users of ISL.

"[The fact that ISL is not an examinable Leaving Certificate subject] is manifestly unfair and disadvantages deaf students because it means they cannot compete on the same basis as their peers for third level places and career opportunities. It is blatant inequality," Brendan Lennon, Director of Advocacy, Research and Public Affairs at Chime said.

"Aside from ignoring an indigenous Irish language, the failure to include ISL as a Leaving Certificate examination subject runs counter to the inclusivity and equality which should underpin education."

The Department of Education responded to Ellie last week. In a letter it pointed to a commitment it has made to develop a curriculum at primary and post-primary level for ISL. It said work on this by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment was "at an initial stage".

In a statement to RTÉ News the Department said: "The development of a curriculum takes time. The development of an ISL curriculum will involve the NCCA in scoping the work, establishing appropriate curriculum development structures, collaborating closely with the ISL community, and consulting widely.

"The development of any new examination is a necessarily lengthy process," it continued.

"Ukrainian, which will be offered for first examination in 2025, was first mooted in 2022. An examination for ISL would require a unique format and extensive time for development".

A course in Irish Sign Language is offered as part of the alternative Leaving Certificate Applied programme.

The Department of Education said: "Until such time as ISL has been developed as a subject for the senior cycle stage of education, the Department and the SEC can offer interested students the opportunity to follow the LCA ISL course and to have their achievement recognised with a set of integrated Leaving Certificate results".