Dyslexic plumber can't have exam help

By JULIET ROWAN

A severely dyslexic man will have to sit his final exams to become a plumber without the help of a reader-writer.

Richard McCullough of Wellington had asked the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, which governs the exams, for a reader-writer, but was turned down. The board said that plumbers needed to be able to read to protect public safety.

The 28-year-old will now have to do the first of the two three-hour exams on Saturday by himself. He rates his chances of passing and becoming a licensed plumber after a four-year apprenticeship as "pretty minimal".

Mr McCullough's dyslexia means he can't distinguish between certain letters.

He protested to Associate Health Minister Damien O'Connor, who called a mediation meeting between Mr McCullough and the board last week. The board stuck to its position, but offered him an extra 30 minutes to sit the exams. Mr McCullough said 30 minutes would do little to help.

He said it amounted to discrimination and he would take take legal action. "They are messing with my life."

Mr McCullough sat two exams last year with a reader-writer and had expected to do the same again. But the rules changed when the board took over administration of the exams from the New Zealand Qualification Authority this year.

The board could not be contacted last night but said earlier it would not allow helpers in exams because tradespeople must be able to read instructions and legislative standards.

In a letter to Mr McCullough on October 20, board secretary Colleen Singleton said the board's role was to ensure consumer health and safety.

"The appointment in which you are to work once registered is such that there could be a risk of harm to others and the board does not believe that it is reasonable to take that risk," she wrote.

But Mr McCullough said his dyslexia presented no danger to people. He said he was meticulous in his job and always had safety utmost in his mind. If he ever had trouble reading instructions for installing plumbing parts, he called the manufacturer.

"There's nothing wrong with my brain," he said.

Mr McCullough said the board had also refused other people's requests for help with exams.