Consultancy: Research, Bhutanese Sign Language

Background

In 2013, the Ministry of Education, with support from UNICEF, undertook an assessment of the Deaf Education programme in Bhutan and developed a road map for Deaf Education in the country. The review of the Deaf Education Programme undertaken in 2013 revealed that Bhutanese Sign Language (BSL) vocabulary including technical vocabulary for teaching various subjects was limited. The review also noted that the signs collected so far are not fully representative of the different regions of the country. One of the key recommendations of the Road Map for Deaf Education was therefore to develop and enrich Bhutanese Sign Language to enable students to receive better quality education and to enable the deaf community in Bhutan to be able to communicate better.

Rationale and Objective

In the absence of in-country expertise in sign language development there is a need to hire an international Sign Language Linguist, who can assist the staff of the Drukgyel School for the Deaf to develop additional signs for BSL to promote quality education for the deaf. The consultant will work with the team at Drukgyel School for the Deaf to build its capacity in collecting and documenting additional local signs into BSL.

Tasks and Deliverables

Tasks to be completed

Expected Outputs / Deliverables

i. Review the existing process of Bhutanese signs/sign language research, development and documentation. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the process of research, development and documentation of Bhutanese sign language.Report on the current practices of sign language documentation with recommendations on improving the process. ii. Train the research team at the Drukgyel School for the Deaf on the process and methods of researching, collecting and documenting additional signs for BSL.Guidelines for collection and documentation of BSL including methodology, ethics and documentation.**iii. Work with the research team to provide them practice in collecting and documenting signs for BSL in selected districts.* Additional signs from different districts/regions of the country incorporated into BSL.

• The research team is equipped with skills to continue expanding BSL. iv. Work with the curriculum developers at the Department of Curriculum Research and Development to develop technical signs that are essential and required to teach specific subjects such as Mathematics, Science etc. Technical signs needed for teaching developed and compiled.v. Continue to provide remote support to the research team at Drukgyel School for the Deaf for a period of 6 months in developing BSL further. Remote support provided upto a maximum of 30 hours over a period of months.
• Final report on consultancy.

Qualification/Experience

The consultant should have:

1. A minimum of University Degree in Social Sciences, Education, Special Education
2. Should be a sign language linguist
3. Should have undertaken work related Sign language research and development
4. Possess sound computer knowledge to document signs using graphics and images
5. A good team player and willingness to transfer her/his expertise to local staff

Duration

One month in Bhutan and remote support from time to time.

Duty Station

The consultant will be based in the Drukgyel School for the Deaf in Paro.

Supervisor

The Consultant will be supervised by the Principal of the Drukgyel School for the Deaf in Paro on a daily basis and will be supervised remotely by the Education Specialist at UNICEF, and the Chief Program Officer, ECCD&SEN Division, Department of School Education, Ministry of Education.

Estimated Budget ; NA

Terms of Payment

Payment will be made in two phases:

First Payment on completion of all tasks and submission of all deliverables mentioned under tasks i – iv.Final payment at the end of contract and upon submission of final report. Payment against remote support will be based on actuals when submitted and verifi

How to apply:

To express your interest for this consultancy, please submit following documents to Laxmi Narayan Upreti atlupreti@unicef.org no later than 15 July2014: - P11 (template form attached)

• CV
• Daily fee or lumpsum fee for the consultancy.
• Cover letter outlining your suitability to successfully discharge the terms of reference, including confirmation of your availability. - Submit brief methodology/approach for the consultancy.