Transcript Disabled people in TURKEY

Seyhan Fırat
In Turkey, according to Statistics Institute of Turkey
(www.tuik.gov.tr) figures, there are about 8.5 million people
with different physical and mental disabilities which count
approximately 12.29 % of the total population. However, 45 %
of these people have only primary education that makes them
highly vulnerable towards unemployment. 52.5 % are not
covered by any social security system. 79 % of disabled
people are unemployed although mean age of disabled
people is 33 which means most of them are young and in
working age. Most of the employed disabled people are
working within public sector. This means, private sector
managers have to be informed and trained to employ more
disabled people.
Population
nr. of disabled
people
%
Man
34.069.984
3.783.197
11.10
Woman
34.552.559
4.648.740
13.45
Total
68.622.559
8.431.937
12.29
Group
Total
% of Total
% of
congenital
% of
subsequent
% of
unknown
Orthopedic
1.25
10
23.91
73.3
2.79
Seeing
0.60
5
20.41
76.32
3.27
Mental
0.48
4
47.92
49.89
2.19
Hearing
0.37
3
29.49
67.1
3.41
Speaking
0.38
3
46.63
50.16
3.21
Others
9.21
75
N/A
N/A
N/A
12.29
100
Total
Total [%]
Man [%]
Woman [%]
Urban
12.69
11.37
13.99
Rural
11.67
10.69
12.63
total
12.29
11.10
13.45

For the population with physical, visual, hearing, speech
and intellectual impairment, 40.97% are graduated from
primary school, 5.64% from secondary school, 6.90%
from high school and only 2.42% have a university
degree. These rates are much less in rural areas
compared to urban is better for the population having
chronic illnesses, and decreases considerably towards
university level. The situation of which 4,23% has
university degree.

According to the recent figures announced by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the work power
rate of persons with disabilities over age 12 is 22.19%,
and 77.81 % is not involved in any work power. By
September 2004, 31,189 persons with disabilities have
applied the Public Employment Organization of Turkey
(ISKUR) and 12,920 were employed. However, 75% of
the Persons with Disabilities registered at the ISKUR do
not have any occupation. In this respect, there is
profound need for vocational rehabilitation in order to
increase employment of persons with disabilities with
adequate level of knowledge and skills in appropriate
occupations.


ISKUR has conducted 465 courses until today, where
6,402 persons with disabilities were trained for
vocational education and rehabilitation. However, it is
another fact that, despite the 47,000 quota in the public
sector, only 9,000 is currently employed.
Various projects are in progress along with increased
legal enforcement toward increased employment of
persons with disabilities. One of the steps taken has
been the increased percentage from 3% to 4% as
compulsory to employ persons with disabilities in the
public sector. This value is 3% for the private sector.


Private sector organizations that employ over their
quota are encouraged by payments of insurance
Incentives by the Treasury. This is one of the steps
taken toward supporting employers through
subsidies rather than the existing quota-penalty
system. Ways and means of encouraging
employment of persons with disabilities still
require legislative and economic tools to develop.
Currently, according to the ISKUR records, the
number of persons with disabilities in line for
employment is around 74,000. 15% of this amount
is women. Private sector quota is 20,781.


ISKUR runs the vocational Rehabilitation Center in
Ankara, where courses are conducted with
maximum duration of 6 months. Courses are given
by the experts from Hacettepe University High
school of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation.
Persons with disabilities are trained for
development of skills together with pertinent
behavioral and physical treatment.
According to the records of the Ministry of Labour
and Social Security, 60.28% of persons with
disabilities in Turkey have access to social security
(directly and indirectly). Social security institutions
mainly finance rehabilitation services.
Institutions
Ministry of Health
Responsibilities
Legislation on health services; protective health services
for prevention of disability; licensing of rehabilitation
organizations, medical treatment service s through
affiliated centers
Ministry of National Education
Policy making and implementing special education
services
Ministry of Labour and Social
Security
Legislation, vocational rehabilitation, facilitation of
employment, social security services
Prime Ministry Administration
on Persons with disability
(OZIDA)
Cooperation and coordination between national and
international institutions, assisting preparation of national
policies on disability, defining problems of persons with
disabilities and making researches in order to solve these
problems
Prime Ministry Agency for Social
Services and Child Protection
Planning for and implementing social services targeting
children, adolescents, adults, persons with disabilities, the
elderly, families and commuties in poverty as well as
coordinating and supervising such services and activities.
Thank you very much for your attention