Vocabulary is enriched and constantly changing through the movement of unique signs originating in remote areas to other schools or communities.
Kenya, being a culturally diverse country, has around 42 ethnic groups and their local sign languages provided the basis for KSL and allow for its continued diversification.
[11] However, many deaf Ugandans know KSL due to the fact that they often travel to Kenya for secondary education.
However, these schools catered to the wealthier population and excluded poor families from the specialized education.
At the time, there was a strong emphasis on the oral communication, lip reading, speech therapy, and hearing aids.
[24] For quite a while, some publications and speakers have attributed and linked establishment of schools for the deaf in Kenya to Dr. Andrew Jackson Foster.
[25] All these were pioneer schools by their respective churches long before Andrew Foster visited Kenya for the first time in the 1980s while on transit to Nigeria.
Other important facts to note are that the Kenya Society for Deaf Children (KSDC) was registered in 1958.
Indeed, Prof Michael Ndurumo who later became instrumental in deaf education in Kenya was one of KSDC's first students at Dagoreti Children's Centre in 1961 to 1963.
Other pioneer deaf students in Kenya include Santina Mwarania, Rosemary Aloo, Scholastica Majuma, Solomon Kayia, Florence Baseke (from Uganda), and Elkana Kimutai who were among the first batch of students at Mumias School for the Deaf; and Mr. Patrick Hagoi, Rev Daniel Njihia, and Rev Joseph Ondiek who were among the first students at Nyangoma School for the Deaf.
[27] One of the first instances of deaf education that used sign language as opposed to the oral method of the missionary schools starts with the inception of the Kenya Society for Deaf Children (KSDC) in 1958, which went on to build the first two schools made specifically for the deaf- Nyangoma and Mumias.
This led to the Ministry of Education's formation of Machakos School for the Deaf where Ndurumo incorporated the ASL manual alphabet and the total communication method.
Total communication is a mixture of oralism and manualism, and incorporates the use of the individual's specific vocabulary, sign language, fingerspelling, speech and lip reading, manually coded language and other forms of communication to teach at an individual level for students.
After this study, the Kenyan government promoted the use of sign language and, more specifically, SEE alongside total communication in deaf schools and classrooms.
This centrality of English in Kenya is one major motive behind the implementation of inclusive education in Kenyan schools.
Since Kenyan Sign Language holds its own grammar, deaf students taught in KSL are considered to be at a disadvantage.
[40][41] SEE, however, does not take into account many subtle aspects of sign language, such as changes in facial expressions that affect meaning.
When asked, many students preferred learning through KSL instead of SEE (or ASL) and stated that using both sign language and speech together was confusing.
[43] Historically, many students, especially those with special needs such as the deaf, have been excluded from schools, particularly in developing countries.
Because of the emphasis on normalization, deaf students were taught speech development, often compromising their exposure to other subjects.
[49] Despite the years that integration had been incorporated in the educational system, the rate of academic improvement has yet to reach expectations.
However, due to the linguistic barrier, the inclusion of students with hearing impairments into mainstream schools can have a significant negative effect on academic achievement if proper support and special attention is not sufficiently provided.
Additionally, merging these students with their mainstream counterparts can put them at considerable disadvantage when it comes to the competing for these facilities as well as the attention and guidance of their instructors.
[56][57] Imposing inclusive education in developing countries such as Kenya ignores how issues such as insufficient funding, inadequate teacher training, large numbers of students in classrooms, and inflexible school systems may affect the effectiveness of these students’ education.
The association was to be responsible for: For the following couple of months, assemblies were held to form a constitution and code of ethics, and a list of trained interpreters throughout the country was created.
The Kenyan Sign Language Association adopted the Navisha Declaration's objectives as its own once it became officially registered under the Societies Act in December 2000.
Annalena Tonelli was a Roman Catholic volunteer who worked in eastern Africa for a significant portion of her life.
[67] In Tonelli's honour, three graduates from Wajir built the Annalena School for the Deaf in Borama, Somali.
No compensation was paid, but temporary classrooms were made until the Humble Hearts School was rebuilt through the help of philanthropists and volunteers, including an NGO called Angel Covers.