Persons with disability face hurdles to acquire jobs

By Jenifer James

Persons with disability endure several challenges such as discrimination when competing for jobs with their able peers in South Sudan.

Apollo a visually impaired teacher was recently a victim of discrimination when he and other five visually impaired colleagues, applied for a vacant position at the Central Equatoria State Ministry of General Education and Instruction.

All the applicants with disability who had applied were axed from the list of successful applicants, despite fulfilling all the criteria set by the Ministry of Education.

 “The government at that time did not fully acknowledge the capabilities of visually impaired individuals. We met all the requirements, yet our scores were reassigned and our names were excluded,” Apollo said in an interview with The Dawn last week in Juba.

Apollo and his five colleagues scored high out of the total of 200 applicants who sat for the interviews.

They excelled in both written exams and oral interviews.

However, their names were inexplicably removed from the final list of successful candidates.

Apollo said that societal attitudes towards the visually impaired persons remain discriminative to date.

 He said that many of the interviewers where skeptical about how he would manage tasks such as writing on a blackboard and interacting with students.

“Such skepticism is disheartening but fuels my fight for equality,” Apollo said.

The Union of Persons Living with Disabilities in South Sudan recently petitioned the Governor of Central Equatoria State and the Ministry of Social Welfare to investigate the matter.

The subsequent investigation confirmed the candidates had met all requirements, leading to a decree that reinstated them as teachers—a notable victory after a prolonged struggle.

Dania Wani, another person with disability, said she once applied for a job a few years ago and passed the interview, but the company rejected her because of her disability.

Alison Lodu Joseph, the Acting Manager of Rajaf School for the Blind, who is visually impaired, criticized the lack of adherence to policies that accommodate persons with disability in the country.

Joseph holds a diploma in rural development and he is also a teacher at Rajaf School of the Blind.

He attributed the discrimination against persons with disability to the failure to enforce existing laws.

“These laws exist but are not enforced,” said Joseph, adding that the South Sudan Constitution should address everyone’s special needs, not just those of individuals with disabilities.

Joseph said that the rights of persons with disabilities need to be clearly defined and implemented.

James Pitia, another teacher at Rajaf School of the Blind who lost his sight in 2001 is among the few persons with disability to have earned a degree in mass communication at the University of Juba.

Despite his qualifications, he was only assigned teaching roles and aspires to work in media.

Pitia criticized the tendency to direct visually impaired job applicants to specialized roles, rather than allowing them to pursue their areas of expertise.

“Government institutions often direct us to roles at the School for the Blind, limiting our opportunities,” Pitia explained.

 “While there have been recent improvements, much remains to be done,” he disclosed.

Advocates, including those using JOSS software—a tool that aids visually impaired individuals with technology—are urging both the government and private sector to adopt more inclusive hiring practices.

They are advocating for employment opportunities that match individual skills and qualifications rather than confining persons with disability to specific roles.

South Sudan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in February 2023. Article 27 of the Convention addresses employment rights, prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities.

However, the enforcement of these legal standards and the transformation of societal attitudes continue to pose significant challenges.

This story is reported with a grant from Journalists for Human Rights under the ‘Tackling Mis/Disinformation Project,’ funded by the Peace and Stabilization Program of the Government of Canada.