Don advocates adoption of International Sign Language
Prof. Bolanle Olawuyi, former Director, Centre for Supportive Services for the Deaf (CSSD), University of Ilorin, has advocated the need to adopt International Sign Language as the current trend in interpreting in a global world.
Olawuyi made the call on Wednesday in Ilorin in her keynote address at an in-house training for sign language interpreters at the CSSD in Ilorin.
The expert, who is a Professor of Social Sciences Education, recommended among others, that Sign Language Interpretation should be professionalised to improve the standard of the practitioners.
She also canvassed for remuneration of Sign Language Interpreters in addition to implementing the 15 per cent special allowance that the Federal Government approved for Interpreters.
She noted that a lot of deaf people are restricted to work overseas due to the confusion created by the different sign languages used in the global world, which resulted in deaf people having to unlearn and relearn.
Olawuyi said that whatever sign language one use as an interpreter in the educational setting, there are certain roles and responsibilities that go with it.
According to her, the role of an interpreter cannot be overemphasised and that interpreters perform amazing jobs when interpreting because they put their life in it.
Prof. Mudasiru Yusuf, the Dean, Faculty of Education, also emphasised the need to show empathy with the deaf in the soceity, especially students of tertiary institutions.
He noted the importance of training, saying the society keeps on changing so there is need for training and retraining for improvement.
The dean urged the staff of the centre to be more committed as they are dealing with life, because whatever they impact on the students would be with them for life.
In her welcome address, Prof. Afusat Alabi, the CSSD Director, underscored the need for training and retraining.
She explained that in any profession one engages in, new things emerge and in order not to become obsolete and to meet up with the current trends and requirements for effectiveness, training become important.
Alabi, who is a Professor of Educational Management, added that the essence of the event was to upgrade the skills of the interpreters so as not to be dropped along the line.
“What you know now may not be able to sustain you in years to come,” she said.
She, therefore, urged the participants to take the training seriously and seize the opportunity to learn new things and improve on what they already know so that they could deliver effectively.
