ACU Ballarat's Mellita Jones is leading a sign language project in the Solomon Islands offering a lifeline for deaf people

With only one school in the country teaching sign language, and deafness being the most common disability, deaf people are often isolated in their communities.

Led by Australian Catholic University's Associate Professor Mellita Jones and representatives of Catholic Education Authority of the Archdiocese of Honiara, the project will train deaf and hearing people across Solomon Islands in Auslan, before sending them into remote communities where deaf children and young adults live.

It builds on the work of the San Isidro Care Centre, the only training centre for deaf people in the Solomon Islands, in partnership with Catholic Education Authority director Modesta Hasiau; and former principal of Bishop Epalle Catholic School Jackson Meke who Associate Professor Jones has strong ties with as a result of a 10-year partnership between ACU and Solomon Islands education authorities.

"There's lots of graduates of San Isidro, mainly youth and young adults, who don't leave Honiara after they graduate. They can't go back to their community because there is no one (who knows sign language) for them to communicate with, and they can't get employment because they can't communicate," she said.

As a result they are isolated, away from their communities.

"Disabled children don't have any access to education and deafness is the biggest proportion of the disabled population in the Solomon Islands. Things like malaria, meningitis, rubella ... things we have mostly eradicated ... are still prevalent there and deafness often results.

"They don't have the health services, especially in rural and remote communities, and that's why this is the first project ever to take a deaf or disabled program in to those communities."

Under the new project graduates will nominate one other person from their rural community to come to Honiara for three months of immersion and training in Auslan before the 'training partners' return to the community to work in a school.

During school hours they will teach sign language to children and teachers, and after school hours they will teach Auslan to families and community members.

On top of gaining and passing on new skills, all participants of the project will also be eligible for a Certificate of Teaching and Learning from ACU, which gives them qualifications recognised by the Solomon Island's Ministry of Education for employment in schools or other institutions.

'Hopefully that will be really empowering for these people to earn a wage, and also to be teaching their community members," Dr Jones said. "It might help also reduce all the stigma that these disabled people have faced, that they will be seen as being quite capable members of their communities."

Associate Professor Jones acknowledged there was some controversy about teaching Auslan over Solomon Islands sign language but said San Isidro at the moment only had the resources to promote Auslan.

Sr Maria Fe Rollo, principal of San Isidro, said young people who came to live at the centre experienced a profound change in their lives when they were able to communicate for the first time.

"When they come to San Isidro, it's their first time to even get to know their name, to write their name, to spell their names," Sr Rollo said.

Sr Rollo said deaf youth were often "the least and the last" in their communities.

"They are the least to be given the opportunity, in most cases they're either given to other relatives, or are expected to stay at home, look after the house, or work in the garden, and they are the least and the last to receive any good information because of the difficulty and the barrier in the language," Sr Rollo said.

"The families want an opportunity to learn sign language so they will have a better way of communicating with the children," she said.

The project will begin recruiting its first students, people who are deaf and hearing, this month.

Catholic Education Authority director Modesta Hasiau said deaf children in Solomon Islands should have equal rights to education and employment opportunities, but it was not the reality.

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"It's just a barrier with the communication that they can't fully participate in the larger community and society, like with employment and all sorts, but at the end of the day they are Solomon Islanders, they are human beings as well," she said.

Ms Hasiau said inclusive education would likely be the next big challenge for governments, as community members in Solomon Islands push to have all teachers trained in sign language.

"Studying at San Isidro will be a milestone, and probably an eye opener for the government, so they can see this is very important and adds to what the nation has already written down in our inclusive education policies," she said.

Associate Professor Jones said if successful, the model could be rolled out in other countries.

She is planning to return to the Pacific Island nation once the country's international borders reopen and is hoping to take pre-service teachers from ACU to help with the project.

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