The Welsh government have announced that the introduction of a GCSE in British Sign Language has been suspended, in a move campaigners have called devastating. The plan was to start offering the course by 2027, but will now be looked at at another point.
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00:00In school, many young people will study history, geography, French or Welsh, and the plan was
00:08supposed to be that in a few years' time, learners could then study British Sign Language
00:13course, but in Wales, that has now been suspended indefinitely.
00:19The original plan was to introduce the course by 2027, but due to practical challenges for
00:24the education sector, that has been scrapped, and no time frame has since been offered for
00:29its introduction.
00:33The qualification will be available in England from September next year, but in Wales, only
00:37a smaller set of units in a Skills for Life qualification is on offer for 14-16 year olds.
00:46Campaigners in favour of the GCSE qualification say that it's devastating, but it's too big
00:51of an issue to forget about due to one decision.
00:54The Welsh Government say that they understand people's disappointment.