VLADIVOSTOK, December 23 (RIA Novosti) – A special driving school for disabled people started teaching Monday in Russia’s Far Eastern Primorye Region.
The school, the first of its kind in the region, will offer evening classes for physically handicapped drivers, a spokesman for a regional NGO for disabled people said.
Artyom Moiseyenko, of the Kovcheg interregional organization of disabled people, said the school will provide a specially-adapted car and a driving simulator, plus an enclosed area for students to take to the wheel.
The school aims to help people with disabilities find work and ensure they have proper access to education, Moiseyenko said.
About 13 million people, or 9 percent of the population in Russia, are living with disabilities, according to official statistics.
Disabled people in Russia still tend to be severely limited in their ability to engage in daily life due to inadequate or nonexistent handicap-accessible transport and infrastructure.
They also often face severe difficulty in getting jobs due to employer discrimination and lack of educational opportunities.
The Russian government has taken some steps to boost accessibility for the handicapped ahead of the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sochi.