Japan Govt to Hold Unified Exams to Hire Disabled People in Feb.

October 24, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's National Personnel Authority said Wednesday that it will in February hold the first-ever unified examinations for hiring disabled people as regular national government workers.

The government personnel management agency decided to take the unprecedented move after it came to light recently that 28 of 33 ministries, agencies and other government bodies padded the number of disabled employees by 3,700 overall to meet their legally required share of such workers in their staffs.

The unified paper exams will take place in Tokyo, Osaka and seven other major cities across the country on Feb. 3. Successful test-takers will advance to interviews held separately by the government bodies. The final passers will be determined on March 22.

The government aims to hire a total of some 4,000 people with disabilities by the end of next year, so each body can meet the disabled people employment rate of 2.5 pct currently required by law for the public sector.

The personnel authority plans to post on its website the institution-by-institution number of disabled people wanted in the middle of November and accept in Dec. 3-14 applications sent by mail.

In the written exams, candidates will be asked to answer high school-level questions in a multiple-choice format and to write an essay.

To facilitate test-taking by the blind, the government will prepare braille question papers and waiting rooms for caretakers as well as make exam venues ready for accepting guide dogs. Jiji Press