Disabled people face obstacles in exam

TOKAT

His acquaintances and law enforcement officials carry a disabled candidate on wheelchair to the exam room in the central Anatolian province of Tokat. DHA photo

Participants in Turkey’s first Disabled Civil Servants Exam (ÖMSS) in the central province of Tokat encountered serious hurdles entering the classrooms and exam halls yesterday, as the schools lacked facilities and equipment to assist the handicapped.

“It says third floor for the disabled test on the exam paper. I mean it would be good if we thought things out a little better when we [attempt] to do something,” said Hamdi Tarım, who carried his orthopedically handicapped brother Gültekin Tarım up to the third floor at the Mehmet Akif Ersoy Anatolian High School in Tokat.

Over 60,000 disabled candidates entered yesterday’s exam across Turkey, while only around 7,000 of them will actually gain employment as civil servants. A total of 679 candidates participated in the exam in Tokat in the city center.

“Once more we were [confronted] with obstacles. This obstacle was the staircase. This exhausted us before the exam. The questions were easy and [pertained to] contemporary subjects. The hiring [positions] are inadequate. We are eagerly waiting for them to be increased,” said disabled candidate Bülent Yıldız upon his exit from the exam.

The candidates’ acquaintances and law enforcement officials helped the disabled exam takers go up the stairs at Mehmet Akif Ersoy High School, while their families called on the authorities to enact the necessary measures to assist the candidates.

Some of the disabled candidates, however, were transported from their houses to the exam locations by vehicles assigned by the Tokat Family and Social Policies Provincial Directorate.

“This exam underlies our important work as the Ministry of Family and Social Polices on issues of accessibility and employment for the disabled,” said the ministry’s undersecretary, Kenan Bozgeyik, adding that they were working toward filling the entire disabled staff requirement of 20,000 within two years.


Compiled from Doğan news agency and Anatolia news agency stories by the Daily News staff in Istanbul.