The primary school students at De La Salle College and St Monica School, Gżira, spread some cheer and goodwill during carnival days.

Both schools collaborated in an eTwinning project, directed by Veronique Scicluna and Jasmine Chircop, who are primary school teachers and newly graduates in Maltese sign language interpreting. Twenty-five boys and girls from Year 1 to 6 participated in the production of L-Innu tal-Karnival, using the Maltese sign language.

The idea stemmed from a similar project done by Deaf People Association Malta during the Christmas season. Sarah Mallia, assistant head at De La Salle College, came up with the idea of doing something similar together with the young students.

The project aimed at increasing awareness about Maltese sign language, an official language in Malta since March 2016. Each phrase from the Innu tal-Karnival was interpreted in Maltese sign language and taught to the students through videos. Participants were assigned a phrase to learn and video-record at home with their families’ help.  The colourful video received a lot of attention, especially by local social media,  and raised more awareness.

The Commissioner for Persons with Disability, Samantha Pace Gasan, supported the initiative by giving two books about Maltese sign language to each participant.

Visit www.deafmalta.com and find the online Maltese Sign Language Dictionary at https://mlrs.research.um.edu.mt/resources/lsm.