Today, September 23, we celebrate the International Day of Sign Languages. This year’s theme, “Claiming Deaf People’s Human Rights,” coincides with the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which recognizes access to education in one’s national sign language as a fundamental prerequisite for the development of every deaf person.
More than 70 million deaf people worldwide communicate through more than 300 distinct sign languages. Yet access to higher education remains unequal for deaf people. Sign-language materials, captioning, and interpreters are still the exception rather than the rule at most universities. As a result, deaf students are expected to navigate research, coursework, and thesis supervision without the support that their hearing peers often take for granted.
The CRPD makes it clear that this is a right, not an accommodation. Quality education for everyone. Recognition of sign languages as equal languages and the development of appropriate institutional infrastructure.
Visit the World Federation of the Deaf to hear directly from the community to whom this day belongs.
Here at eThesis, we stand alongside every deaf student by providing our platform so that they have an equal opportunity to complete their thesis and finish their studies, without barriers, without limitations.
