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The Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong has received a generous donation of HK$ 65 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, to operate the "Jockey Club Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrolment in Deaf Education Programme". The programme which lasts 7 years, started from August 2006. The innovative experimental programme involves pre-school as well as primary education. By engaging hearing and deaf teachers to collaborate in teaching, and co-enrolling deaf and hearing students in classes, the programme aims at bringing about innovative changes in speech training, the curriculum and school activities. It is the ultimate aim of the programme to promote mutual respect and create a conducive learning environment that will benefit both hearing and deaf students.

The launching ceremony of the "Jockey Club Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrolment in Deaf Education Programme" was held today at The Hong Kong Jockey Club Happy Valley Clubhouse. Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Professor Lawrence Lau, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, Mrs. Yu Law Siu Man, Principal Education Officer, School Administrative & Support, Education and Manpower Bureau and Dr. Catherine Lam, Consultant Paediatrician, Child Assessment Centre officiated at the Ceremony.

Officiating at today's ceremony, Chief Executive Officer of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, said he was encouraged to see the deaf and hearing students in attendance communicating perfectly using both sign and spoken languages. "We aim to explore and establish an alternative model of deaf education, with a view to ultimately providing deaf children and sign users with equal opportunities in mainstream education," he said. "We also hope the research findings will contribute to better understanding of this issue in Hong Kong and beyond."

Professor Lawrence Lau, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK said the programme emphasizes bilingualism and co-enrolment and is effective in removing the learning barriers of deaf children and enhancing their literacy. “The CUHK research team is supported by world-class scholars and professionals from overseas specializing in sign linguistics, speech and hearing sciences, psychology and special education. We are also most fortunate to have secured a generous donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club to finance the operating expenses of the programme for seven years. I would like to reiterate my deep appreciation of the Club’s most valuable and indeed indispensable contribution." Professor Lau said.

The Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong was established in 2003 to develop Sign Linguistics research in Hong Kong. In August 2006, with the generous support from The Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Centre conducted the first experimental programme in Asia on co-enrolment education for both deaf and hearing students. The research focuses on the educational processes and the students' ultimate educational attainment, the acquisition of spoken language literacy as well as Hong Kong Sign Language of both deaf and hearing students and the oral language development of deaf students. Other than experimental classes in Peace Evangelical Centre Kindergarten (Ngau Tau Kok) and the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese-Kowloon Bay St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School, the programme also includes regular speech training, literacy classes for pre-schoolers and deaf adults, as well as the future baby/parent signing classes. Besides, resource materials will also be developed to benefit the development of literacy, sign and spoken language of not only the deaf, but also hearing students. Students graduating from the programme are expected to be linguistically competent in Chinese, English and Hong Kong Sign Language and they will have good literacy to continue to pursue secondary education and post-secondary education.

Although the programme has only been running in the kindergarten for less than a year, deaf students’ oral language and literacy have shown significant improvement as a result of the enriched language environment and the support of the speech therapists. The mother of Chan Tsz Ying, one of the participants of the programme, said, "In school, Tsz Ying can talk with the hearing kids and use sign language to communicate with the deaf kids. I am glad that this programme has such a positive impact on my daughter. Tsz Ying is happy in school and she manages her study well."