A petition urging the University to provide LFA classes in British Sign Language has reached its goal as of last Saturday. 500 students have signed the petition, which is spearheaded by the Disabled Students’ Network.
The campaigners wrote on the petition group: “British Sign Language is an incredibly important way of communication and is vital to many deaf people who do not wish to use/cannot use hearing aids and cochlear implants. It helps to bridge the gap and ensure full communication.
“We ask the university to ensure that LFA is provided as a course as of the next academic year, free of charge, and providing at the very least a Level 1 qualification in British Sign Language.”
Naomi Barrow, who is spearheading the campaign, said; “When I got here I found that you had to pay for the BSL course and it didn’t provide a proper
qualification.”
“I was perplexed as to why it wasn’t an LFA – many other languages are provided, but not sign language, despite the fact that 15, 000 people within the UK use BSL as their main language. Since then I have been working with Dan Whitmore and the Disabled Students’ Network to encourage the university to make BSL an LFA.
“Dan has done a great job at going to meetings and negotiating with people. We have also created a petition which we shared over social media. Hopefully, in about two weeks, we will hear back from the university about their final decision, and BSL will become an LFA in September.”