Opinions on the first National Report of Korea on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 11.2 Sign language for persons with hearing disabilities 1) Current status and problems ① Sign language is used as the primary language by persons with hearing disabilities. However, Korea has a poor environment for the use of sign language, which poses an obstacle to communication, use of information and learning based on sign language. Consequently, persons with hearing disabilities are placed at disadvantages in many areas of life including not only daily life but also education and employment, leaving them socially marginalized. ② According to the Commission’s Research Report on Building the Base for the Independence of Persons with Disabilities in 2013, the proportion of teachers who have qualifications for sign language was less than 5% in special schools for persons with hearing disabilities, and there were only six schools nationwide that provided support to students with hearing disabilities by allocating sign language interpreters in integrated education classrooms, demonstrating that despite the fact that sign language was a language for persons with hearing disabilities, there was a lack of awareness on sign language in our society. ③ The Commission judged that providing no sign language interpretation to persons with hearing disabilities constituted discrimination and accordingly made a Recommendation on April 3, 2013 that the organizations against which complaints were filed should provide sign language interpretation. The AntiDiscrimination Act against Persons with Disabilities stipulates that sign language is one of the tools to fulfill the mandatory provision of reasonable accommodation in communication. ④ Recognizing various forms of communication by persons with disabilities NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF KOREA 27