Education Minister Says Struggle to Find Sign Language Interpreters

The start of the new school year has been challenging for some deaf students, with reports that several have returned to the classroom without access to a sign language interpreter. The situation has raised concerns among parents and advocates about equal access to education. Minister of Education Francis Fonseca says the ministry understands those concerns and is working to address the shortage, but notes that there are only a limited number of trained interpreters available in Belize.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“It’s a very important challenge, a very important issue. It’s a difficult one. It’s a very difficult one because last time I checked, I think there were, I think, less than a dozen trained interpreters – sign language trained people, certified people. So we have small, a small number, a pool of them. What we’ve been doing over the past few years is trying to give scholarships to people and try to encourage people to get trained and certified. So we’re doing more of that. If you noticed recently over the last few months, we’ve been advertising. The ministry has been advertising for sign language interpreters for, what you call the para-professionals as well, who are people who go into the classroom and assist the special needs students. Some of them require full-time care. So we’ve been advertising for those people. But it’s very, I’ll be very honest about it, it’s very challenging. And we have to do something about, these jobs don’t pay much, that’s the reality. We have to do something about that. We have to find a way to improve those  packages, make it more attractive. But I can tell you from certainly that from my office, we try in every way possible to help families ’cause I understand how difficult it is for families.”

 

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