Human Rights Commission Recommends Accommodations for Narcolepsy Students, Education Ministry Responds "Not Accepted"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The National Human Rights Commission has recommended that appropriate accommodations be provided for narcoleptic examinees in the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), but the Minister of Education has expressed a refusal to accept this recommendation.

On the 14th, the Human Rights Commission stated, "Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder caused by a deficiency of arousal hormones, primarily developing during adolescence, and the number of patients has been rapidly increasing recently." It added, "The fact that examinees with narcolepsy fall asleep is a characteristic of the disability unrelated to their will. It is discriminatory for a national institution, the respondent, not to prepare and provide accommodations tailored to the disability characteristics of examinees with narcolepsy."

Regarding the Human Rights Commission's recommendation, the Minister of Education said, "The Human Rights Commission included narcolepsy within the category of disabilities under the Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and the National Human Rights Commission Act, but accommodations for the CSAT are based on the Higher Education Act and the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities." He added, "Even in the case of narcolepsy, accommodations should be provided based on these laws." He further responded that "due to the nature of narcolepsy, the frequency and severity of drowsiness symptoms vary for each examinee, so the methods of providing accommodations inevitably vary and uniform application is difficult."

In response, the Human Rights Commission stated, "With the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities on April 13, narcolepsy was recognized as a disability under the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities." It added, "Since the Ministry of Education has not established or reviewed any separate plans, the Human Rights Commission judged that the Ministry lacks the will to substantially improve this issue and therefore considered the refusal of the Human Rights Commission's recommendation as such."