Honduras to Teach the National Anthem in Sign Language

Education authorities are formalizing a ministerial decree to ensure that the Honduras National Anthem is taught in sign language throughout the public school system.

The promoters of the teaching project believe that it will strengthen the civic values among hearing-impaired children, and that the rights of those children to participate in the national hymn have been violated.

The Director of the support group for deaf persons, (GHAPERS – Grupo Hondureño de Apoyo a Personas Sordas), Marlen Martínez, is happy that the project to teach the language will be presented at the Government House on December 3rd in acknowledgment of the upcoming International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

“The project aims to teach the National Anthem in sign language. We are implementing it with the Ministry of Education and the Special Education Unit, and we will make the launch official,” she reported.

Martínez added that the Ministry of Education project will be presented at the ministerial level in schools across the country next year, and that the teaching of the Honduras national anthem in sign will be an obligation of primary school teachers, “This applies to all public, official, semi-official, and private institutions and will socialize the Decree.”

Teaching the Honduras National Anthem in Sign Language

The project provides videos of the Honduras national anthem in sign language and brochures for teachers on how to teach the hymn in that language. There will be a change to the National Curriculum of Education, in the sense that it will replace what were once the 100 questions of the national anthem.  “There are many teachers who are trained to teach the anthem in this way; both special education teachers, and our organization, GHAPERS, have such teachers,” according to Ms. Martínez.

The GHAPERS director explained that currently more than 70,000 children in Honduras have the status of  “deaf “, and are taking classes in public and private schools for children with special needs.

After the December 3, 2013 presentation, the rules will be published in the Official Gazette, and next year the Decree will be implemented in the national education system and included in the basic education curriculum.