Content of the article.
Through Vice-Ministerial Resolution No. 124-2020-MINEDU, the Ministry of Education (MINEDU) approved the profile of the linguistic model, defining the competencies, capacities and functions of the educational mediator responsible for teaching Peruvian Sign Language to students with hearing disabilities. The measure is consistent with Supreme Decree No. 006-2017-MIMP, which approved the Regulations to Law No. 29535 granting official recognition to Peruvian Sign Language and was published in the official gazette El Peruano on 15 August 2017.
Article 5 of the Regulations to Law No. 29535 provides that: “MINEDU and the other Decentralised Educational Management bodies must guarantee Deaf people access to and continued participation in the education system in both public and private institutions. They must also facilitate the learning of Peruvian Sign Language and promote linguistic and cultural identity throughout the educational process.”.
Accordingly, MINEDU will be able to progressively hire educational mediators who, as a complement to Peruvian Sign Language interpreters, address the communication and learning needs of students with hearing disabilities throughout the country.
For present purposes, a linguistic model is a Deaf person who uses Peruvian Sign Language and interacts proficiently with the educational community in order to facilitate learning of Peruvian Sign Language as a first language and bring students with hearing disabilities closer to Deaf culture. The linguistic model must also have communicative competence in written Spanish and use a range of pedagogical and technological resources that enable them to support the learning of students with this type of disability.
It is important to note that the 2018 School Census recorded a total of 5,231 students with hearing loss and deafness enrolled in the education system. Of these, 490 students with profound deafness were enrolled in Special Basic Education (EBE), and 1,450 were enrolled across all other levels and modalities of the education system. According to the 2019 School Census, the number of Deaf students enrolled in Regular Basic Education (EBR) institutions was 134 at preschool level, 587 at primary level and 350 at secondary level.[1]The decline in the number of Deaf students at secondary level is particularly striking and points to a lack of educational institutions able to meet the educational needs of this population. Public policies therefore need to be implemented to address the exclusion of Deaf adolescents and young people from secondary education on the basis of disability.
It should also be noted that the Ministry of Education’s Directorate of Special Basic Education invited the public to take part in a consultation on the proposed Linguistic Model Profile. The purpose was to provide social recognition to Deaf people working as linguistic models of Peruvian Sign Language in our country, in accordance with Law No. 29535, which grants official recognition to Peruvian Sign Language, and its Regulations.[2].
Finally, it must be emphasised that education is a right that makes it possible progressively to achieve autonomy and exercise other rights. The State therefore has an obligation to guarantee the right to education for everyone without discrimination of any kind, ensuring quality educational services in public and private educational institutions in accordance with the principles of inclusion and equity. Inclusive education entails eliminating barriers that prevent or limit the presence, participation and learning achievements of all people in mainstream schools, while recognising and valuing diversity. Although universal access to the education system is still not guaranteed, violating the rights of hundreds of thousands of people in particularly vulnerable situations, including persons with disabilities, approval of the linguistic model profile is intended to help remove these barriers. This is especially important because Peruvian Sign Language plays a key role in education and the construction of knowledge; an educational process without command of a language is inconceivable, as it would foster the exclusion of students with disabilities by preventing them from being active participants in their own education.
Bibliographic references:
[1] Defensoría del Pueblo. El derecho a la educación inclusiva. Retrieved from: https://www.defensoria.gob.pe/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Informe-Defensorial-183-El-Derecho-a-la-Educaci%C3%B3n-Inclusiva.pdf. (last accessed on 16 July 2020).
[2] Ministry of Education. Retrieved from: https://www.gob.pe/institucion/minedu/campa%C3%B1as/929-pre-publicacion-del-perfil-del-modelo-linguistico. (last accessed on 16 July 2020).
