WEBVTT 00:00:00.767 --> 00:00:06.084 At long last, the BSL GCSE moves closer 00:00:08.573 --> 00:00:16.998 The British Deaf Association (BDA) welcomes today’s launch of a new official consultation 00:00:16.998 --> 00:00:22.358 on the long-promised GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL), 00:00:22.358 --> 00:00:33.458 and applauds the long-awaited progress toward recognition and equality in education. 00:00:34.809 --> 00:00:39.152 Deaf CEO Rebecca Mansell - 00:00:39.152 --> 00:00:48.287 “Let’s be clear, it’s a step in the right direction, but there is much further to go,” 00:00:48.887 --> 00:00:57.775 "After a lengthy period of silence from the authorities, we appreciate this development" 00:00:58.988 --> 00:01:06.288 The BDA statement comes in response to this week’s announcement that Ofqual has 00:01:06.288 --> 00:01:12.916 launched a further ‘technical’ consultation on the British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE. 00:01:14.187 --> 00:01:20.317 Whilst the GCSE’s content has already passed through a 2023 consultation led by 00:01:20.317 --> 00:01:26.177 the Department for Education (DfE), this week’s initiative focuses on examination 00:01:26.177 --> 00:01:27.997 and assessment procedures. 00:01:29.363 --> 00:01:35.893 “Only last month in Parliament, during Sign Language Week (17-23 March), 00:01:35.893 --> 00:01:46.494 MPs from the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on BSL quizzed the Minister for Disabled People, 00:01:46.494 --> 00:01:57.296 Sir Stephen Timms MP, on the ongoing delay with the GCSE,” points out Mansell. 00:01:57.296 --> 00:02:05.416 “Sir Stephen spoke of the government’s ‘ continuing commitment’ and of being 00:02:05.416 --> 00:02:13.153 ‘generally reassured about the progress that’s been made and the commitment to deliver’.” 00:02:14.150 --> 00:02:22.904 The BDA remains concerned about the long delays in the development of the new BSL GCSE. 00:02:24.525 --> 00:02:28.525 The previous government target for “first teaching” was September 2025, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the BDA believes that this target will be missed by two years. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The reasons for this delay are unclear. Whilst the BDA has been expressing the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 BSL community’s concerns about the GCSE project for many years, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it took Ofqual until this month to directly ask to meet the BDA – which is recognised 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 up to United Nations level as the UK’s representative organisation for the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 signing Deaf community – for one-to-one talks. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “Almost everything has happened behind closed doors,” Mansell notes pointedly. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “And here we are, with even Ofqual acknowledging that an award promised 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in 2018 will not actually result in anyone receiving a certificate until 2029 at the earliest!” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “BSL is a rich and complex language, different in many respects to the spoken 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 languages already studied at GCSE level. We appreciate DfE’s and Ofqual’s diligent 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 work to get the GCSE right. It’s a challenge to schools and examination boards. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But it’s really not rocket science.” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The BDA has repeatedly highlighted the significant potential for Deaf teachers to be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 afforded a leading role in the delivery of BSL GCSEs, in keeping with the spirit of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the 2022 BSL Act which received all-party support in Parliament. It notes that Deaf people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 been firmly at the forefront of BSL teaching in adult education since 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 BDA itself trained a generation of BSL teachers at Durham University 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the 1980s – a programme taught by Deaf people to Deaf people entirely in BSL. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In this light, four decades have passed in which Deaf linguistic and cultural 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 expertise in the teaching profession has been acknowledged and promoted. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “Now,” says Mansell, “we face an unclear roll-out of the GCSE – if indeed we ever 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there – with every school at liberty to offer BSL courses but no programme in place 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to build a sustainable Deaf-led workforce. Who will teach our language to the highest 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 quality if not Deaf people who are fluent in it?” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The BDA stresses its willingness to support the relevant authorities 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 clear throughout, and that it will continue to press for a timely, high-quality GCSE 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that protects and promotes BSL as a vibrant language, respects the long-term 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the Deaf community, and secures the contributions of Deaf professionals.