Deaf Association slam govt for discrimination

Keikantse Lesemela | Monday May 12, 2014 14:42

 

She said BoAD has raised so many issues related to education of people with hearing problems but they are never attended to.

Tshotlego explained that although the government has tried to finance their education through the Botswana Society for the Deaf (BSD), the support is not enough. This is because deaf students in tertiary education institutions are not given allowances like others. “The government is failing to support us. We want the money to be put in our personal accounts just like every student. We have so many problems; please government should respect our rights.”

Tshotlego criticised that deaf students’ allowances are given to the BSD. She said that from the BSD the students get P500 while the allowance from Department of Tertiary Education Financing is P1,420.

“We have so many issues that we have raised to the Office of the President but they have never responded to us. It has been two years now. It is a long time. We want to see President [Ian]Khama so that he can hear our issues,” said Tshotlego.

She said the government is failing to create jobs for the deaf while BSD is pushing its own agenda when it is supposed to appeal to the government to assist those with hearing disability. “BSD is using us to get money from sponsors. When they are given money to assist in activities for the deaf, they take a portion. This is not good because most deaf people never benefit from such assistance.”

Tshotlego said when deaf people are asked to teach sign language, they are not paid the same amount as those with no hearing disability.

“Other deaf people are working but they are not paid. Their money is taken to BSD, they do not have their own salary. There is lot of corruption at BSD,” she said.

However, BSD spokesperson, Oreneile Matsetse has dismissed the claims from the BoAD secretary. She said that although she does not know much about the policies that regulate sign language, the Office of the President is aware of the issues affecting the deaf.

“I can’t say much about the policies but the government has attended to the issues relating to the deaf as some of them have been sponsored to tertiary schools.”

Matsetse said only students who are sponsored by BSD at Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies are given an allowance of P500 by the organisation.

“We have our own students at GIPS and they are sponsored by BSD.”