Curriculum amendment introduces sign language as a Matura subject at AHS

Although this has been constitutionally recognized since 2005, it has so far hardly been taught in schools. A curriculum amendment that has now been introduced stipulates that deaf and hearing young people can take ÖGS as an alternative to the second living foreign language, Latin or Greek, and as an elective subject. The new curriculum will apply from the 2024/25 school year.

“Important step for more inclusion”

In a press release on Wednesday, Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) spoke of an important step towards more inclusion in the school system and a “sign of appreciation and respect for all of the approximately 9,000 deaf people in Austria”. The President of the Austrian Deaf Association, Helene Jarmer, saw this as a “first important step” towards the recognition of ÖGS in schools. However, further measures must follow for an inclusive society in which all students have equal opportunities.

There is currently no curriculum for sign language, nor are there any approved textbooks for primary and special schools, criticised the Independent Monitoring Committee, which oversees the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Austria, in its most recent report. Sign language cannot be officially used as a language of instruction either, although according to the Monitoring Committee this is nevertheless done at a dozen locations in Austria.

ÖGS as a mandatory exercise

According to a press release from the ministry, the review period for the special education curricula, in which ÖGS is to be anchored as a compulsory exercise for deaf and hearing-impaired students, is already over. The subject is therefore compulsory, but there are no grades. According to the ministry, the statements are currently being reviewed.

According to the Ministry of Education, sign language is currently only taught in compulsory schools as part of the mandatory “therapeutic-functional exercises” or in combination with other manual and sign systems. Some schools offer sign language as a non-binding exercise within the framework of school autonomy, which students can take voluntarily. There is currently no offer at all for hearing children of deaf parents (CODA students), even though they grow up with sign language.

Special school or inclusion class

In principle, deaf or severely hearing-impaired pupils can attend a special school or an inclusion class with hearing pupils in a regular school; the decision is up to the parents. Regardless of the location, they can be taught in some or all subjects according to the supplementary curriculum of the special school for deaf children, which takes their special learning requirements into account.

According to the ministry, compulsory schools provide support from teachers with knowledge of sign language, and federal schools provide interpreting services so that they can better understand subject content (e.g. geography, mathematics, physics).