The Commissioner for Human Rights intervenes regarding the accessibility of the education system for students with hearing disabilities
Date:
The Commissioner for Human Rights addressed Minister of Education and Science, Przemysław Czarnek, regarding actions to increase the accessibility of the education system for students with hearing disabilities and to consider the following remarks.
Among individuals with hearing disabilities, there are both those who use sign language (mainly Polish Sign Language) and those who do not know it. A special feature of functioning as a hard of hearing or deaf person is the inability to communicate or a significant reduction in communication.
The professional potential of this group is significant but largely untapped, partly due to educational outcomes in schools. Therefore, it is necessary to implement bilingual education for individuals with hearing disabilities. This would improve educational accessibility for this group, enabling effective communication with teachers, parents, and peers, as well as achieving higher results in written Polish language exams.
Taking into account the diversity of individuals with hearing disabilities in terms of communication forms and equalizing educational opportunities by providing an accessible education system could significantly improve their situation, both in education and in the job market.
The Commissioner for Human Rights noted with particular concern that none of the schools monitored by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) used textbooks translated into Polish Sign Language adapted and provided by the Ministry of Education and Science.
The issue of excessive bureaucracy through the obligation to create an individual educational-therapeutic program every six months for each student with a disability has been previously raised, including in studies by experts collaborating with the Commissioner for Human Rights.
