In some classrooms in Senegal, deaf and hard-of-hearing students now study alongside everyone else

PIKINE, Senegal (AP) — Mouhamed Sall stepped to the chalkboard with a glance and quick question in sign language to an assistant. 

Then he solved the exercise to the silent approval of his classmates, who waved their hands in a display of appreciation.

Sall and three other students are part of a new approach in a small number of schools in Senegal that seat those who are deaf and hard of hearing with the rest of the class.

Some classmates at the sun-washed Apix Guinaw Rails Sud school in a suburb of the capital, Dakar, have embraced the chance to learn sign language in the months since Sall arrived. 

The class is lively and cheeky: “No teachers allowed in this room,” graffiti scrawled above the chalkboard says.

“I have no problem communicating with some colleagues I went to primary school with,” Sall said as his mother spoke. “The new colleagues don’t know sign language but we still play together.”We’ve been friends, so it was easy to learn sign language,” said classmate Salane Senghor, who also knew Sall in primary school. New classmates were curious, looking to the assistant to find out what he was saying

The United Nations children’s agency says about 60% of children with disabilities in Senegal are not going to school. 

But the government lacks comprehensive data on the issue and counts only children who are formally registered as having a disability.

“We’re looking for progress from the government to ensure every child, regardless of ability, has the opportunity to learn,” said Sara Poehlman with UNICEF Senegal.

Senegal lacks a national strategy for inclusive education, but it is developing one. Recent political instability in the West African nation has hindered progress.

The challenges are compounded by a stigma that some in Senegal associate with disabilities. Some parents hide their children and prevent them from participating in society.

The organization Humanity and Inclusion last year began partnering with Senegal’s education ministry for mixed classes in four public secondary schools with inclusive education practices. Apix is one of them. Humanity and Inclusion funds the hiring of assistants who can communicate in sign language.

“We see that all children are on an equal footing, and that’s why we make an inclusive class or school by harmonizing with the hearing pupils,” said Papa Amadou, one assistant.