This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament

Petition Make British Sign Language (BSL) a compulsory subject in the national curriculum

Growing as deaf person is most thing that I struggling. BSL is our first language. There are so many barriers in our life but the main important thing is communication. Many want to learn BSL. It should be taught in schools so deaf people can able to access communication with people using BSL.

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Estimating 11 million deaf people in the UK & 151,000 BSL users, you can imagine how difficult life can be when trying to communicate with anybody. Many people want to learn sign language, unfortunately where are they going to learn from? It's so important, for their own future, work and etc. BSL private lessons is so expensive, sadly many people can't afford it. It should be an option for people who want to learn the language for example, German, Spanish & French so BSL should be included!

This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months

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British Sign Language report debated by MPs

On Tuesday 17 October, Chloe Smith MP led a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on the British Sign Language report 2022 and implementation of the British Sign Language Act 2022.

Watch the debate, read the transcript of what was said, and access other relevant material:

British Sign Language

What are Westminster Hall debates?

Westminster Hall is the second Chamber of the House of Commons.

Westminster Hall debates give MPs an opportunity to raise local or national issues and receive a response from a government minister. Any MP can take part in a Westminster Hall debate.

Debates in Westminster Hall take place on ‘general debate' motions expressed in neutral terms. These motions are worded ‘That this House has considered [a specific matter]'. This means that Westminster debates don’t end in a vote on a particular action or decision.

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