Sign language included in the academic curriculum: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that the government has put a lot of emphasis on sign language in the new National Education Policy.

He said, “The big problem in India for years was that there were no clear gestures, standards for sign language,” adding that to overcome these difficulties, the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre was established in 2015.

“I am happy that this institution has thus far prepared a dictionary comprising ten thousand words and expressions which is benefitting millions of my specially-abled brothers and sisters now,” Modi emphasised.

He further stated that this is the first time in the country, where sign language will be included as a subject in the academic curriculum.

Recently, the Centre has also launched an Indian Sign Language dictionary mobile application called ‘Sign Learn’ containing 10,000 words. The app was launched by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Pratima Bhoumik.

It is available in Android as well as iOS versions, and all the words in the dictionary can be searched through Hindi or English medium.