A campaign to have British Sign Language added to mainstream curriculum classes from nursery age to secondary school has been started by a Castlemilk woman.
Emma Tomlinson was inspired to make the petition after her boyfriend was injured in accident two years ago.
That left him unable to communicate.
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As a result of the accident, Emma and her boyfriend had to learn sign language so they could communicate as he could no longer speak.
The 20-year old told Lanarkshire Live : “Learning sign language is something I had always been interested in, but I’ve never gotten around to taking it further.”
“I’m attempting to learn sign language at home, it is quite difficult for someone who has never done it.”
BSL is not something that is readily taught in schools and Emma feels it’s a language that has been forgotten bout.
She added: “If children learn the basics and how to communicate using BSL, then they can use these skills anytime in the future – whether it’s a friend or if they were to have a child who could be deaf or mute.
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“They could have a job with someone who is impaired. Or someone could enter a store and could need assistance, or just in everyday life, they would be able to communicate with other people.
“Sign language is an extremely important thing -in my opinion more important than learning French or Spanish.”
Currently, BSL nguage can be taught in schools.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman told us : “BSL can already be taught in schools, in line with our 1+2 approach to language learning.
“In keeping with the flexibility of Curriculum for Excellence, it is up to schools and local authorities to decide which languages to offer to pupils, depending on their local circumstances.
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“Scotland was the first country in the UK to legislate for its indigenous sign language, and we are proud to be a global leader in this.”
Emma hopes her petition will allow sign language to be added to the curriculum universally and be taught in all schools.
You can sign Emma’s petition <…….