Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand and the deaf community celebrated the 10th year of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) being an official language of New Zealand during NZSL week from 9 to 14 May 2016.
The Ministry is committed to delivering on the government’s $11 million funding (over 4 years) to lift access to NZSL for deaf children and young people, and their families and whānau. This video (You Tube; 7 mins, 23 sec) summarises the progress made by the Ministry and its partners since 2013.
As part of this work programme the Ministry supported Deaf Aotearoa’s provision of over 609 NZSL week taster classes (156 pre-school services and 368 primary, 49 intermediate and 36 high schools – up from 443 in 2015).
We also sponsor annual NZSL in Action Awards for an early years service and a school. This year’s NZSL in Action Early Childhood Award was won by Yoshie Akasaka at the Campus Creche in Hamilton for her inclusive approach to teaching, which includes NZSL. The Schools Award was won by St Theresa’s Catholic School in Plimmerton for fostering an NZSL-friendly learning environment.
For the full list of the award winners please see Deaf Aotearoa’s website .