Response to interpellation 2024/25:606 on the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people to education in their own language
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the right of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to education in Swedish Sign Language as a mother tongue. L argues that students have a right to mother tongue education and that school administrators cannot disregard this requirement 1 2. L emphasizes that the legislation has not changed and that measures are not excluded 1 3. S argues that existing curricula for hearing students are insufficient and that the children need their own national curriculum and grading criteria 4 5. S argues that sign language is the child's language, not necessarily the family's, and that the right to mother tongue education must be recognized based on the child's needs to ensure equal conditions 4 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Mr. Speaker! Jessica Rodén has asked me what measures I intend to take to ensure that deaf and hard-of-hearing children are given actual opportunities to receive instruction in their language, Swedish Sign Language. Jessica Rodén has also asked me if I intend to task Skolverket with developing a national curriculum and grading criteria for Swedish Sign Language as a mother tongue.
Those who have a mother tongue other than Swedish, speak one of the minority languages or use sign language shall be given the opportunity to develop and use this language. The public sector is responsible for this (Sections 14–15 of the Language Act [2009:600]).
Students who have a right to mother tongue instruction shall receive it. A student who has a guardian with a mother tongue other than Swedish shall be offered mother tongue instruction in this language if the language is the student's daily language of communication at home and the student has basic knowledge of the language (Chapter 10, Section 7, Chapter 11, Section 10, Chapter 12, Section 7 and Chapter 13, Section 7 of the Education Act [2010:800]).
There are no specific curricula and subject plans for Swedish Sign Language as a mother tongue. However, there are other curricula for sign language that can be used to conduct teaching in sign language as a mother tongue, for example, the curriculum for sign language for the hearing.
Regulations stating that students shall be offered mother tongue instruction are not something that municipalities or individual school providers can disregard. I am following this development closely and do not rule out that measures need to be taken.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you to the Minister for the answer and the acknowledgment of the responsibility that the public has according to the Language Act! I also welcome that the Minister says that measures are not ruled out. But at the same time, we must be honest that a reference to existing curricula, which are developed for hearing students, is not sufficient to ensure that deaf and hard-of-hearing children receive instruction in their own language. Children who have Swedish Sign Language as their mother tongue need their own curriculum and their own grading criteria.
Mr. Speaker! I have submitted this interpellation to highlight a serious and unjust reality. It concerns the fact that deaf and hard-of-hearing children, as well as hearing children of deaf parents, so-called CODA children, are not granted the linguistic rights that should be self-evident in a society that safeguards equality and the equal value of all people.
When it comes to mother tongue instruction, the regulatory framework is based on a norm, namely that the child and the family speak the same language at home. That is how it looks for many hearing children with a mother tongue other than Swedish, for example Finnish or Spanish. But for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, reality looks different.
The vast majority of deaf children are born into hearing families, where Swedish is the dominant language and Swedish Sign Language is not the parents' first language. This means that sign language is not the family's language but the child's language. Therefore, we cannot apply the rules that require the mother tongue to be used as the daily everyday language in the home. Deaf and hard-of-hearing children's right to mother-tongue education must be recognized based on their needs, not based on the families' language or the parents' language.
Mr. Speaker! Swedish Sign Language is recognized as a separate language. The Language Act states that the public shall protect and promote it. Yet, a national curriculum for Swedish Sign Language as a mother tongue is still missing. Without such a curriculum, the teaching becomes deficient or may be omitted entirely. Students are denied grades in their languages, receive no systematic language development, and are left without the support they are actually entitled to.
Research shows that learning through hearing and learning visually function in different ways. Hearing children pick up knowledge by listening to conversations, instructions, and small talk. They listen to the radio in the car. Deaf children need visual communication, eye contact, body language, and signs.
Being able to develop one's mother tongue is also crucial for succeeding in other subjects. Language carries thought, and thought carries knowledge. Ensuring the right to instruction in Swedish Sign Language as a mother tongue is not about giving some children extra advantages. It is about giving all children equal opportunities to succeed. It is about ensuring that no one is left behind. Therefore, I ask the Minister whether the government will give Skolverket a clear mandate to develop a national curriculum for Swedish Sign Language as a mother tongue.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Mr. Speaker! I want to emphasize that these students have sign language as their mother tongue. No changes whatsoever have occurred in this area. The authorities cannot ignore these students' right to sign language as a mother tongue. Nor have any changes occurred in this area that would allow the authorities to ignore this requirement.
I view very seriously what has now occurred in Örebro. These students have a right to mother tongue instruction, that is to say, sign language.
Just as Jessica Rodén thinks, I also believe the question is important from the perspective that this is the language these students use. It is also important that one has sufficient competence in it. Even if one has an implant, sign language is truly of great importance.
I view it very seriously that the principals now apparently consider that they can disregard this requirement.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Mr. Speaker! Many thanks to the Minister for her commitment and for acknowledging the importance of the issue!
I welcome that the Minister says she intends to follow the developments and does not rule out measures. But we must simultaneously be clear that it is not a sufficient solution to merely refer to existing curricula, for example sign language for the hearing at the upper secondary school. These curricula are not developed for children who have Swedish Sign Language as their mother tongue.
The curricula are written for hearing students who learn sign language as a foreign language, not for children for whom sign language is the very basis of their thinking, communication, and identity. We cannot equate learning a new language in high school with developing one's first language in childhood.
Mr. Speaker! We must understand the enormous effort it takes for many deaf and hard-of-hearing children to try to access education in a hearing environment. Even with technical aids such as cochlear implants and hearing aids, every school day involves a constant struggle to hear and interpret spoken information. It leads to chronic fatigue, what research calls listening fatigue.
For these children, access to instruction in sign language is not an option. It is a prerequisite for being able to learn, participate, and develop. We know from research that a strong first language is absolutely crucial for succeeding in all other subjects, from reading comprehension to mathematics and problem-solving.
Ensuring the right of deaf and hard-of-hearing children to mother tongue instruction in Swedish sign language is to give them the tools they need for a lifetime of learning. It is not quite enough that the minister merely follows the developments. We see what has happened in Örebro. I also have personal experience of children not having had access to their language because it was not considered to be the family's language. It is this reality that children and parents live in.
It is not enough to just follow the developments. Can the government commission Skolverket to develop a curriculum for mother tongue instruction in sign language?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Mr. Speaker! I want to emphasize once again that I am not excluding anything in this area. But the background to the interpellation is that a municipality in Sweden has decided that children shall not have the right to sign language as a mother tongue. This is, moreover, a municipality that sees itself as the capital of sign language in Sweden.
This naturally leads me to wonder if we need to take further measures in this area. But I really want to emphasize that nothing has changed in the legislation or in the regulatory framework. These children have a right to sign language as mother-tongue instruction.
Jessica Rodén (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to conclude by thanking the Minister for this important debate. I wish that reality reflected what the Minister has presented here today.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Mr. Speaker! I have just been informed that the Liberals in Örebro have submitted a motion that sign language as a mother tongue should be immediately reinstated. Unfortunately, the majority in Örebro did not think the same.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.