From the policy on implementing the inclusive schools project to the education of deaf students at Eduardo Mondlane University

Abstract

The implementation of the Inclusive Schools Project in 1998 marked a milestone in the inclusion of students with special educational needs in mainstream schools, ensuring the use of Sign Language as a medium of instruction. That process contributed to the establishment, in 2013, of the Bachelor’s Degree in Mozambican Sign Language Teaching at Eduardo Mondlane University, raising expectations of significant changes in the training of deaf students from mainstream education. Ten years later, many of these students still do not fully identify with the adopted curriculum, demonstrating difficulties in understanding and mastering contents of various subjects, particularly General Didactics.
With the aim of reflecting on educational policies and their implementation in the curriculum of the aforementioned course, a qualitative interpretive study was conducted based on the analysis of a semistructured interview with a deaf student. The findings reveal that the student faces difficulties in understanding curriculum content, even when some subjects are taught by deaf teachers. Although the
inclusive schools policy has promoted greater access for deaf students to formal curricula, its implementation has not yet ensured genuinely inclusive learning. It is concluded that deaf students must be provided with curriculum content that respects their linguistic and cultural specificities, recognising Mozambican Sign Language as a legitimate language of instruction and access to knowledge. The promotion of linguistic equity requires the reformulation of curricula and pedagogical practices so that
they are designed based on the needs of deaf students rather than their adaptation to educational models predominantly oriented towards hearing student.