High hopes as career fair for disabled starts
KATHMANDU, DEC 13 -
Eleven years ago, Sarita Koirala was buried under a landslide at her home village in Kavre. A student in Grade 9 then, she survived the accident but with a spinal cord injury that left her dependent on a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Last December, she was taking her first-year Master’s exams when the first career expo for the persons with disability was organised in the Capital. She could not attend the job fair, but left her resume and other documents with the National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NDFN), one of the organisers, to be presented to prospective employers. Four months later, Koirala landed her first job. Along with three other persons with disability, she was hired as a telephone operator at the TIA.
According to the NFDN, Koirala is one of the 28 disabled persons out of 450 registered at merojob.com, one of the expo partners, who has directly benefited from last year’s career fair.
At this year’s expo, which takes place on Friday at World Trade Centre in the Capital, the Federation aims to increase this rate of success, drawing in at least 700 job applications and eventually employing at least 100 disabled job-seekers. By continuing to hold such job fairs every year, Sudharshan Subedi, NFDN chairman, hopes to reduce the high unemployment rate among the disabled.
Despite a five percent reservation in public service employment, the federation estimates that 95 percent of the disabled population in Nepal are financially dependent on their families or relatives. According to the 2011 census, 1.94 percent of the total population in Nepal lives with some forms of disability.
Eleven years ago, Sarita Koirala was buried under a landslide at her home village in Kavre. A student in Grade 9 then, she survived the accident but with a spinal cord injury that left her dependent on a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Last December, she was taking her first-year Master’s exams when the first career expo for the persons with disability was organised in the Capital. She could not attend the job fair, but left her resume and other documents with the National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NDFN), one of the organisers, to be presented to prospective employers. Four months later, Koirala landed her first job. Along with three other persons with disability, she was hired as a telephone operator at the TIA.
According to the NFDN, Koirala is one of the 28 disabled persons out of 450 registered at merojob.com, one of the expo partners, who has directly benefited from last year’s career fair.
At this year’s expo, which takes place on Friday at World Trade Centre in the Capital, the Federation aims to increase this rate of success, drawing in at least 700 job applications and eventually employing at least 100 disabled job-seekers. By continuing to hold such job fairs every year, Sudharshan Subedi, NFDN chairman, hopes to reduce the high unemployment rate among the disabled.
Despite a five percent reservation in public service employment, the federation estimates that 95 percent of the disabled population in Nepal are financially dependent on their families or relatives. According to the 2011 census, 1.94 percent of the total population in Nepal lives with some forms of disability.
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