Rages against possible dismantling of subject

To make cuts in the budget, the board at the Department of Special Needs agreed to stop the enrolling on the sign language and interpret study at the University of Oslo (UiO) from next fall. If no new means are provided, the classes will be closed down from fall 2011.

That causes reactions among the deaf students at UiO.

Lack of interpreters

For them, the interpreter is the person that makes sure they are not isolated from society.

– A lack of interpreters prevents that deaf people get higher education. Already we see a lack of interpreters. The situation won´t improve if we have 15 less interpreters educated every year, says Marius Berg Eide.

He is deaf, but thanks to an interpreter, he can study physics and astronomy at UiO.

According to numbers from a report called Tolkeutredningen, one out of seven interpreter assignments were not carried out in 2008, because of the lack of interpreters.

Students can owe themselves

Yesterday, when Universitas was printed, the Facebook group «Don´t close down the sign language and interpreter study at UiO!» counted more than 1800 members. The initiators Marthe Odegård jr og Rannveig Øygardslia, who are both in their third year of the sign language study, complain about the lack of information from the department. Leader of the department Arnfinn Vonen, however, claims they are on the safe side.

– The possible dismantling of the study was on the case documents from the board meeting, and the student representatives were provided with these papers, says Vonen.

Vonen says that none of the student representatives in the board studies sign language, and that none of them were on the decision meeting, either.

– Too expensive

The students who are already in the course of their studies are allowed to finish their bachelor´s degree. But that´s it.

– If you see how many resources that go to the study compared to the income from the done study points, then the sign language and interpretation study is the most expensive study in the department, says leader of department Vonen.

The study is a practical language study with many lectures and seminars. Few study places gives low income from taken study points at the department.

– This is why the study is expensive.

– How have you weighed a dismantling against other cuts in the department?

– A possible dismantling will be done strictly because of the economy. The study has the least earning power. I, too, think that this is a very unfortunate situation, says Vonen.

The students react on the pause in the enrolling in stead of that the department board consider other possibilities. Physics student Berg Eide is surprised by the department´s math.

– This seems like a strange economical prioritization. Maybe the subject should be reorganized, or moved to the language field of study, or to a university college that is more vocationally oriented? asks Berg Eide.

Demands the cabinet minister to take an active part

The sign language students think it is a paradox that the department wants to dismantle the sign language subject at the same time as there is a general interest in strengthening sign language´s position, and when the anti-discrimination law that is supposed to protect people with disabilities´rights, has just been passed.

– It seems strange that the largest city in Norway can´t offer an education in sign language. Around half of all the people who are deaf in Norway, live in the eastern part, says Paal Richard Peterson in Norges Døveforbund, the organization for deaf people in Norway.

Now the search for new measures starts.

– One possibility is to get them from the Ministry of Education and Research, says leader of department Vonen.

Døveforbundet demands that the minister of higher education and research Tora Aasland makes sure the sign language subject survives. No one in the department could say anything about this possibility yesterday.

Society gains when deaf people educate themselves and stays off social security, say the students.

– With an interpreter we can manage and take care of ourselves, says Lars Petter Lindman, student of nanotechnology at UiO.

Leader of the university department Vonen can not say anything when asked if the subject will be moved to other schools, or if any dismissals will take place.