Country report 2011
Country facts:
• Population: 16.692.099 (August 24th, 2011) (15.000 – 20.000 sign language users, approximately 7.500 D/deaf)
• Size of the country: 41.528 sq km
Facts on sign language interpreters (August 24th, 2011):
• Number of registered sign language interpreters: 391 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio).
• Number of registered speech-to-text writers: 82 (no data on part-time vs. full-time ratio), (source: www.stichtingrtg.nl)
• Interpreter organization:
Nederlandse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Gebarentaal (NBTG)
Dutch Association for Sign Language Interpreters
NBTG Board
The board of the NBTG consists of the president, treasurer, 4 general members and 2 board co-workers. The NBTG board is assisted by a policy maker, an office coordinator and an associate at the financial department.
NBTG Members (July 8th, 2011)
The NBTG has a total number of 533 members:
329 interpreters
95 students
11 sponsor (Plus) members
81 newsletter subscriptions
17 special members
• Interpreter training:
Four-year Bachelors program (part-time and full-time) at the College of Utrecht. The program officially started in 1998. The 10 pilot students of this new program graduated in August 2001. In 2002/2003 28 students graduated, in 2003/2004 32 students, in 2004/2005 20 students, in 2005/2006 25 students, in 2006/2007 28 students, in 2007/2008 33 students, in 2008/2009 42 students graduated and in 2009/2010 44 students graduated. Of the year 2010/2011 are no numbers available yet. Main subjects in the program are Dutch Sign Language, Interpreting or Teaching Skills and Deaf Culture.
The College of Utrecht also offers a Master program Deaf Studies. Graduated interpreters with a BA degree have the opportunity to enroll in the MA program.
Most important events for the association in the past year:
In November 2011 a NBTG General Meeting will take place. Special about this one, is that we celebrate the fact that the first Dutch Sign Language Interpreters started working 25 years ago. We will praise this group of Sign Language Interpreters by reuniting them and putting them back in ‘class’ with each other.
Other than this event coming up, no particular events took place in 2011.
Most important events for the situation of SLI in our country:
We are now facing the challenge of a system change in the interpreting provision for primary en secundary education. The budget available for using interpreters in school will be transfered from the government agencies to the schools and institutions for children with auditory and communicative disabilities. This budgettransfer will take place in 2013, but meetings for discussion and consultation have already started and the NBTG takes place in these meetings. For now we don’t know what the consequences will be for the Sign Language Interpreters, but it will have an impact for sure.
Goals of the NBTG for the coming year
The NBTG envisions together with its partners in the field, the following ambitions:
1. To increase the quality of sign language interpreters, matching the changing needs and wishes of the organisations of deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, sudden-deafened, and deaf-blind people.
2. The NBTG will do this by regularly investigating the needs and wishes of users of the interpreting services, as well as of interpreters and students by organising qualitative continuing education.
3. Increasing the educational possibilities for interpreters, such as post doctoral studies and specialisations.
4. Increasing the knowledge on the role of the interpreter at the government, user organisations and interpreter users, in cooperation with partners in the field.
5. Installing a formal cooperation-platform with all user organisations and the government.
6. Stimulating social recognition of sign language interpreting as a profession.
We will continue to try and realize those ambitions in the future.
Mirjam van Oijen-Stolk, September 2011