Parent of hearing-impaired teen welcomes literacy enhancement project

JAMAICA - As the parent of a hearing-impaired teenager, Marcia Hunter welcomes the Partnership for Literacy Enhancement for the Deaf Project, which, she says, will open up academic opportunities for her daughter and positively impact her future ambitions. In an interview with JIS News, Hunter said her 18-year-old daughter, who attends the Lister Mair/Gilby High School for the Deaf, puts no limits on herself. The talented teen, who is in Grade 12, already has a distinction in Visual Arts at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) level, and is preparing to sit additional examinations in Mathematics, Accounts and Information Technology (IT) in 2018. The proud mother who supports her ambitious daughter in her pursuit of a career as a teacher of the deaf in visual arts or mathematics, said the project is a positive step in the right direction to foster greater inclusion and opportunities for members of the deaf community. For his part, State Minister for Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green, hailed the initiative, which he said is in line with the Government’s national development agenda, which seeks to ensure that every member of society is included in the process. “If we are to truly move Jamaica forward, it must be with an effective education system that leaves no child behind,” Green asserted. Launched in September, the three-year project aims to realise five major objectives, including an increase in the number of deaf students functioning at age-appropriate levels for literacy development by 10 percentage points in all schools operated by the major service providers of deaf education in Jamaica.

(Jamaica Observer)