Xuan Hai, a visually impaired applicant, received help to take the national civil service exam on Sunday, one year after he sued the exam authorities in Anhui province for discriminating against disabled applicants.

Xuan took the written exam for the annual national civil service exam in Hefei, Anhui province, in a separate exam room assisted by a volunteer who read the questions for him.

"The assistance was helpful but not perfect, because it was too hard to remember the lengthy words. It took me a lot of time to communicate with the helper about what information I missed," he said.

It is the seventh time the 28-year-old massage therapist has tried to get a job in government agencies or public institutions.

In his previous experiences applying to take civil service exams, he was either barred from taking the written exam because of his poor eyesight or given magnifying glasses or an exam written in larger type, which he found unrealistic for him to take the exams.

Xuan sued the provincial human resources and social security department for not preparing assistance for him to take the exam in June 2012. He asked the department to adopt regulations to provide adequate help for the disabled to take employment exams, as well as a public apology.

Xuan lost the lawsuit but he saw positive changes after that.

During a provincial civil service exam in April, the exam authorities in Anhui prepared an electronic exam for him and he got a volunteer to read the exam questions on Sunday.

"My sight went very bad in college, and it became extremely hard for me to find a job, so I learned massage, not because I like it, but simply because it was the only career for most blind people in China," he said.

"I will take as many civil service exams as possible to increase the awareness of all exam authorities at all levels, so one day in the future, all disabled applicants can receive barrier-free assistances to take exams for government jobs."

Governmental agencies and public institutions should have quotas to employ people with disabilities, according to the guidance seven ministry-level agencies jointly issued in August to promote the employment for disabled people.

The regulations stated that authorities responsible for holding the civil service exams should not set barriers to prevent disabled people from taking government jobs except special job positions and must provide necessary assistance to help disabled applicants to take civil service exams.

hedan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 11/25/2013 page4)