KUCHING: Preschool children in Sarawak are now learning basic sign language as a way to promote inclusivity in society, says a state minister.
Sarawak Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said sign language was introduced at the state-owned Sedidik kindergartens this year to teach children to be able to communicate with the deaf.
She said this came after the deaf community indicated their aspirations for more communication and interaction with others in society.
“For this to happen, normal people must be able to communicate with the deaf using sign language.
“So we have decided to introduce basic sign language starting with Sedidik kindergartens.
“Through this initiative, we hope to encourage two-way conversations between the deaf and normal people,” she told a press conference after chairing a Sarawak Early Childhood Development Council meeting here on Tuesday (Feb 22).
Fatimah said the sign language classes had been well received at the Sedidik kindergartens so far.
“We hope that this will help our children to understand the needs of the deaf community for communication.
“This is one way to make sure that our society is inclusive,” she added.
On a separate matter, Fatimah said her ministry would work with the Health Department to expedite the vaccination of five- and six-year-olds in Sarawak.
To date, she said 10.1% of children aged five and 15.9% of those aged six had received their Covid-19 jabs.
“We will appoint one person in each (administrative) division to coordinate the vaccination.
“For kindergartens with a small number of children, we will group them into clusters whereby the children can get vaccinated in one location,” she said.
There are 71,294 five- and six-year-olds registered in kindergartens in the state.