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This petition was submitted during the 2019 to 2024 Parliament

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Closed Make British Sign Language a compulsory subject in the national curriculum

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The Government should include BSL in our curriculum for two years, as courses take a year and a half of average. There should be specialist teachers similar to other language classes that give students their best chance.

As of 2017, 11 million people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing. However, only 151,000 people in the UK can fluently use BSL; not enough to effectively communicate with the deaf people of our country. Medical studies found that deaf people suffer from mental health issues at about twice the rate of the general population. Making a countrywide effort to improve communications should not only decrease this statistic but make everyday tasks easier for deaf people, overall making life better.

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    This petition will stay open until 5 February 2021.