2.4.3. Current situation and remaining challenges

Educational policies currently prioritize individual schooling of deaf students in mainstream centers. This has significantly reduced special education enrollment and dispersed deaf students across many schools. Various organizations and authors have emphasized the need for policies that explicitly recognize bilingual education as a legitimate form of inclusive education (e.g., Gómez Monterde & Bao-Fente, 2024; CNSE, 2021; Morales López, 2019; WFD, 2018).

This approach requires quality education based on direct instruction in sign language, grouping of deaf students, the presence of deaf professionals, and a bilingual curriculum that includes studying the language itself. However, bilingual educational models remain limited in practice. Effective implementation requires coherent policies, sufficient human and material resources, and, above all, a paradigm shift that recognizes sign language's communicative, curricular, and instructional functions.

Deaf education in Spain exists in a complex landscape. Regulatory advances and established educational experiences coexist with significant challenges in guaranteeing the right to bilingual and inclusive education. Despite sustained initiatives spanning more than three decades, territorial equity remains elusive. Still, more centers are incorporating sign language into their classrooms at varying levels, even without formally adopting a bilingual educational model (Gómez Monterde & Bao-Fente, 2024).

The CNSE study (2021) on the educational situation of deaf youth in Spain identifies several key factors for inclusion and success: the role of teachers and families, continuous Spanish sing language (LSE) learning from the earliest stages, direct instruction in LSE, and the presence of deaf LSE specialists and interpreters. It emphasizes the need to effectively implement the existing regulatory framework through coherent public policies with adequate, stable investments that guarantee educational inclusion and bilingualism

Aroca-Fernández, E. (2025). Socio-historical background: Sign language community: Deaf education: Current situation and remaining challenges. In S. Villameriel García (Ed.), Gramática de la Lengua de Signos Española (GramLSE) / Grammar of Spanish Sign Language (GramLSE). Real Patronato sobre Discapacidad-Centro de Normalización Lingüística de la Lengua de Signos Española. Retrieved Month DD, YYYY, from https://cnlse.es/es/recursos/gramlse/ingles/index/socio-historical-background/sign-language-community/2-4-deaf-education/2-4-3-current-situation-and-remaining-challenges