Al-Amal School for the Deaf celebrates the 47th Arab Deaf Week
Al Amal School for the Deaf, which is an affiliate of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS), is going to celebrate the 47th Arab Deaf Week from 20 to 27 April 2022 under the theme “Inclusion of sign language in education curriculum at all levels.” This week includes a rich set of awareness-raising events and lectures in which deaf people take an influential role.
Ms. Afaf Al-Haridi, School's Principal, spoke about SCHS's constant interest in sign language and raising community awareness of it through organizing many courses. She stressed the need for various segments of society to learn sign language to communicate with people with hearing impairment in hospitals, schools, universities, government and private institutions.
She said, “During its celebration of the 47th Deaf Week, the school will publish a set of social, educational and informative videos in sign language”. Through it, deaf people emphasize the importance of sign language and the great benefit that will result from its adoption in educational curriculum at all levels.
She added, "A delegation of students and teachers of the school, which Microsoft selected for six consecutive years as a Showcase school, will visit a number of schools of the Sharjah Private Education Authority." The visit aims to educate students and teachers about the importance of sign language and interact with them through an informative workshop on this language. Another delegation will also visit the Special Education Department in the Ministry of Education with the aim of discussing the inclusion of sign language in the ministerial curriculum.
Within the week of "Inclusion of sign language in education curriculum at all levels", the school, in cooperation with the SCHS Audiology Unit, is organizing a virtual lecture entitled "Deaf people and technologies and their importance in education." Ms. Marwa Madi, Audiologist at the Unit, will deliver the lecture. The school will organize a group Iftar for students who are deaf next Thursday.
As part of its celebration of the Arab Deaf Week, the school organized a group breakfast in the presence of Major General Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police and Sheikh Aziz bin Farhan Al Enezi of Sharjah TV. Dr. Rawhi Abdat, a Psychologist and Educator at the Ministry of Community Development attended as well.
SCHS branch in Khorfakhan is also celebrating the Arab Deaf Week by organizing two virtual lectures. The first is entitled "Inclusion of sign language in education curriculum at all levels". Sign language interpreter and media person Osama Al-Tahrawi will deliver this lecture. The second is entitled "How the teacher develops his skills and abilities in linguistic marking to reach a high level of translation." Media and sign language interpreter Saeed bin Mohammed will deliver this lecture.
Ms. Afaf confirmed that the leadership of Al-Amal School for the Deaf dates back to the year 1979 with the establishment of the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services. It was the first school in the United Arab Emirates to provide educational services to students with hearing imparment. So far, it has integrated 89 deaf students into schools of hearing students. The number of students who graduated in the secondary stage was 90 students. A large number of them joined collage. Eleven students have graduated from the University of Sharjah so far.