Government asked to provide ‘revised response’ to petition for free BSL courses for parents of deaf children (BSL)

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The Department for Education (DfE) has been asked by a group of MPs to issue a new response to a Parliament petition calling on the government to fund British Sign Language courses for parents and caters of deaf children.

An update to the petition, which has more than 17,800 signatures at the time of writing, reads that the Petitions Committee reviewed the DfE’s reply but felt it “did not directly address the request of the petition”.

“[They] have therefore written back to the Government to ask them to provide a revised response,” the notice says, adding the new government reply will be published online once it has been received.

In the government’s initial response from last Tuesday, the DfE said: “Adult Education Budget funding is available for British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications, below Level 3. At Level 3 and above Advanced Learner Loans are available for certain BSL qualifications.

“Funding is available through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) for qualifications in or focussing on British Sign Language (BSL) up to and including Level 2,” they said.

Mother Katie Littlejohns, whose son Alvie is moderately deaf, later criticised the government’s “misleading” response to her petition which left her feeling “incredibly disappointed”.

She told The Limping Chicken last week: “[It] doesn’t address the actual purpose of the petition. There is no mention of support for parents or the child.

“It merely offers potential funding for those ages 19-24. Or alternatively a loan for those above or part-funded if you’re on Universal Credit.

“It is not a simple read either to elicit the exact support. Overall, an irrelevant response that completely ignores the petition.

“Also, the initial sentence is misleading as it implies this is full funding for all adults.”

Ian Noon, chief policy advisor at NDCS, added the government’s response “misses the mark by a wide distance” and that many families will consider it “insulting”.

He said: “We believe that all families with deaf children should have the opportunity to learn sign language. Many families tell us that using sign language, either as a main language or to support spoken English, can bring huge benefits in a wide range of different situations.

“For these families, learning sign language should not be seen as equivalent to learning a new skill or hobby – it’s fundamental to their child’s development and should be available free of charge.

“We agree with Katie that the Government must fund these lessons. It’s unacceptable that too many families face having to pay thousands of pounds to learn sign language.”

The British Deaf Association has also expressed its support for the petition, tweeting that free BSL lessons for parents of deaf children is an objective outlined in their “new 10-year strategic vision” to be launched early next year.

The petition is available to sign on the Parliament petitions website.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.