The above legislations not only resulted in recognition of KSL but also provided the deaf with the legal protection and backing necessary to demand their right of access to information. In addition to SL interpretation during parliamentary proceedings for both the National Assembly and the Senate, there are currently three television stations providing SL interpretation during news namely the National broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and two privately owned TV stations namely Kenya Television Network (KTN) and Good News Broadcasting System (GBS). This clearly points to an increased need for Sign Language interpreters in different settings and to some extent, an increased awareness about Sign Language interpreting as an emerging profession in Kenya.
A research project study by (Koigi 2013) entitled “The Linguistic challenges faced by Kenyan Sign Language Interpreters of the Proceedings of the Kenya National Assembly” established that the KSL interpreters had to use strategies such as avoidance, paraphrasing, circumlocution, coinage and conscious transfer of borrowing. Among other recommendations,
the study recommended that structured systems be established to offer language teaching and language enhancement for the KSL interpreters.
A similar research project entitled “A Comparative Analysis of Challenges Associated with English and Kiswahili Source Texts in Kenyan Sign Language Interpretation (Kaula 2014)” established that, only 21.3% of the English source texts were adequately catered for in KSL target text. The remaining 78.7% of the English source texts had various deviations such as omissions, distortions or opposite meaning. Kiswahili had even higher deviations as 81.2% of its source texts had deviations in the target KSL text. The study recommended establishment of structured interpreter training programs that incorporate language enhancement in English, Kiswahili and KSL in order to ensure competency development of KSL interpreters. These studies by Koigi (2013) and Kaula (2014) clearly point at an urgent need to equip the KSL interpreters with necessary skills in these new domains.
A study by Bunyasi (2010) revealed that despite a Ministry of Education policy on use of KSL as a medium of instruction in 2004, teachers in schools for the deaf lacked knowledge and skills in KSL due to lack of training and therefore did not use it for instruction except when teaching it as a subject. Since 2010, another policy from the ministry allowed deaf candidates to take Kenyan Sign Language as a subject in place of Kiswahili. This appears to have contributed in boosting the average grades of deaf learners resulting in a slight increase of admission of deaf Kenyans in higher institutions of learning in the last six years.
Article 54 1(b) of the Kenyan constitution stipulates that a person with any disability is entitled to access educational institutions and facilities for persons with disabilities that are integrated into society to the extent compatible with the interests of the person. Further the same article in 1(d) provides entitlement to use Sign Language and any other appropriate means of communication. Consequently, public universities have contracted Sign Language interpreters to cater for deaf students. Despite this being a good opportunity for interpreters to work in an educational setting, it has come with its challenges. Seemingly most of the institutions do not know how to find a skilled interpreter.
At the University of Nairobi, several deaf students are enrolled in different disciplines pursuing diverse courses, at different academic levels and attending classes at different times.
Each deaf student ought to have an interpreter to attend lectures, a challenging situation considering the institutions are dealing with a new phenomenon. While increased enrolment of deaf persons to higher institutions of learning is a positive step as it provides more opportunities for SL interpreters, the job itself is demanding in terms of time and skill. Some of the students are undertaking specialized courses, such as engineering, which has very specialized terminology. Furthermore, from the KSLIA database, most of the interpreters’ level of education is Ordinary- level coupled with knowledge of KSL and no training in interpretation leave alone in academic specialized fields. Moreover,the institutions themselves neither have a job title for interpreters nor do they advertise for the job. In most cases, the deaf student is asked to provide the institution with a name of an interpreter who is later contracted without an interview. Some experienced interpreters have reported to KSLIA that they declined the job as remuneration offered to them is extremely low. As an association, KSLIA has no control over how much pay institutions offer interpreters. Moreover, interpreters exercise their own discretion in accepting or declining jobs. Often fresh graduates of sign language classes take up such jobs without any training in interpretation let alone in the specialized field. Consequently, the quality of interpretation provided to the deaf students is likely to be poor.
Article 54 (2) of the Kenyan constitution provides that the state ensures the progressive implementation of the principle that at least five percent of the members of the public in elective and appointive bodies are persons with disabilities. This has resulted in employment of a few Deaf persons in the public service as the government endeavors to fulfill this requirement. Interestingly, government ministries only seem to realize the need for a SL interpreter after hiring the deaf person. However, the greatest setback has been recruitment and remuneration of SL language interpreters since clear guidelines are lacking. In an effort to hire an interpreter, ministries encounter major challenges, as the process is bureaucratic and time consuming. The Kenyan constitution 2010 established the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) a body mandated to review and determine salaries for all government employees. A few interpreters have reported to KSLIA cases of Government ministries putting on hold plans to hire them as they wait for directions from the SRC. At the time of publishing
this paper, KSLIA had received communication in writing from the SRC that the matter is being considered.
The positive move of recognition of KSL has brought to the fore dimensions about SL interpreting that the practitioners themselves and the stakeholders have to grapple with in order for the profession to move to the next level. In addition to an increased awareness of the SL interpreting profession in Kenya, interpreters have begun interpreting in new domains such as the parliament, court, educational and television settings among others.
Currently, none of the existing universities has a Signed Language interpreter training program. The only existing interpreter training program at the University of Nairobi focuses on spoken language interpreting and has not yet incorporated signed language interpreting. Compared to other sign language teaching programs available locally, the Kenya Sign Language Research Project (KSLRP) a joint project between the University of Nairobi and KNAD offers a fairly reliable training. KSLRP’s website indicates that its nine month training entails three months basic Sign Language classes; 3 months advanced sign language which incorporates a few components of interpretation and 3 months of internship at an institution/organization of deaf people. However, it is limited as it does not incorporate the intensive practice and exposure to diverse scenarios required in interpreter training.
Currently, there is no certification process to ensure licensing of interpreters in Kenya. It is common to find people with very minimal signing skills interpreting in high-level assignments that require experienced interpreters. Currently, practicing interpreters are at different levels of skill some with several years of experience while others have basic signing skills. Employers are unable to distinguish those levels, as there is a lack of system of licensing interpreters according to qualifications, skill and experience.
In the last few years, there has been increased enrolment for Sign Language training. Moreover, in an attempt to accommodate deaf people, several government ministries have sponsored their staff to undertake sign language training. As of June 2015, KSLRP indicated on its website that in the past three years, at least 150 nurses from different public hospitals and a few police officers have been sponsored for full time sign language training at KSLRP for a period of nine months. The training incorporates some aspect of basic interpreting to equip the
nurses with some interpreting skills in case of a need to interpret for a deaf patient. During the last three months of the training, the learners are placed in an organization/ institution for the deaf for internship and experiential learning.
Recommendations
u There is need for short training for interpreters already working in the mentioned settings to enhance their skill level in order to improve quality
u Establish well-structured interpreter training programs that provide the required training. The Center for Translation and Interpretation at the University of Nairobi that has an existing program for spoken language interpretation is considering incorporating sign language interpreter training. However, the centre requires both technical and financial support to implement it.
u Establishment of a board to certify and license those practicing to get rid of “Mandela fakes” (a term coined by Kenyan sign language interpreter community after the Fake South African interpreter during Nelson Mandela’s memorial to refer to those purporting to be skilled in interpreting but possess very limited signing skills or none at all).
u KSLIA requires resources to establish a secretariat that will engage with the government in lobbying for recognition of sign language interpreting in Kenya.
Conclusion
Although the new Constitution has provided Deaf Kenyans the right to access, it has not made it possible for them to “enjoy” this right, as there seem to be numerous barriers to that access. Similarly, there seems to be increased job opportunities for interpreters but this does not necessary benefit them due to the numerous challenges enumerated in this paper.
The increased awareness of KSL has resulted in more hearing people enrolling for Sign Language classes creating job opportunities for deaf sign language trainers. Additionally, a few universities such as St. Pauls University, Moi University, Kenya Methodist University have incorporated sign language as a unit while others are considering starting an interpreter training program. As of now, there are challenges of training and certification, remuneration and employment procedures for sign language interpreters. KSLIA has encountered obstacles in its efforts to engage key stakeholders in dealing with some of the challenges majorly because of lack of recognition of the sign language interpreting profession. A stronger KSLIA and KNAD with a common voice are likely to bear the fruits that interpreters in Kenya yearn for.
References
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