日本語

Check the link below for the details of this campaign in Japanese Sign
Language.
https://youtu.be/PdCAuCZUz_o

The language that deaf students in Japan can understand in full is Japanese
Sign Language.
There is a course in which students can learn through the medium of Japanese
Sign Language at Hokkaido Sapporo School for the Deaf. 40 % (8 students) of
kindergarteners and 50 % (13 students) of the primary school attend this course at this school. During the activities called Syuwacchi (“syuwa” in Japanese means sign language, and “syuwacchi” is a sound effect used by children’s superheros “Ultramen” when they go rescue people) deaf teachers read books in JSL, children play games together, and they also make various presentations in JSL. During such activities, the identities of Deaf students are entirely affirmed and they learn to be proud of being Deaf, and thus all the students look very much forward to this time. All the classes such as Japanese and Mathematics are delivered via JSL, too, making it possible for all the students to fully participate in learning no matter how severe their hearing impairments are. Textbooks are written in Japanese, class discussions are done in JSL, and the wrap-
up of the class and examinations are conducted in Japanese, which makes this course a unique bilingual course. Students have access to deep learning through the medium of two languages, Japanese and JSL.
This wonderful bilingual education is, however, in danger of existence, due to
the limited number of signing teachers at the school. Teachers who have been leading the bilingual deaf education at this school have reached their retirement, but the Hokkaido

Board of Education and the principal of the Sapporo School for the Deaf in Hokkaido have not replaced them. Parents have repeatedly asked for "the maintenance and development of education in JSL" and "securing teachers who can teach classes in JSL," but their requests have gone unheeded.
Such reluctance to ensure the continuation of bilingual deaf education will
inevitably lead to the deprivation of the students’ rights to learn. It will lead to the
deprivation of the mother tongue of these children. In order to counteract such immense deprivation of children’s rights to learn, we ask the following of the Hokkaido Board of Education, the Head of Hokkaido Board of Education, and the Governor of Hokkaido.

1. Assign teachers who can deliver classes via JSL to Hokkaido Sapporo School for
Deaf.
2. In order to continue bilingual deaf education at deaf schools in Hokkaido, rehire
teachers with experience in bilingual deaf education to support the on-the-job
training of the young teachers.

Aiko Sano (Professor, Ritsumeikan University)
Atsubumi Sugimoto (Professor, Tokyo International University)
Michiko Sasaki (Professor Emerita, J. F. Oberlin University)
Mizuho Takaka (Former teacher, Hokkaido Sapporo School for Deaf)
Soya Mori (Researcher, Asian Economic Research Institute)
HBED (Hokkaido Bilingual Education for the Deaf)