Expert Group Meeting on Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Vocational Training

From February 14 to 16, 2006, a group of regional experts came to Bangkok for an ILO Expert Group Meeting on the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Vocational Training. Among the representatives from 11 countries were vocational training experts, labour leaders, employers, people with disabilities and international civil servants. They deliberated for three days about the meaning of inclusive vocational training, the vision of an inclusive system, and how to make such a system a reality. The meeting was funded by the ILO/Korea Fund.

The ILO meeting organizers (i.e., the AbilityAP and Global Disability Programmes and the regional Skills-AP Network) started the meeting noting that many countries have policies for including people with disabilities into mainstream vocational training, but in practice few disabled persons participate in training available to the general population, adding that in most countries a full understanding of the practical issues and knowledge of useful models and resources are still limited. The purpose of the expert group meeting was therefore to address implementation issues and to identify practical tools and the means to apply them, rather than to approach the issue from a policy perspective.

Resource people for the meeting included ILO specialists and senior specialists from the Bangkok regional office as well as experts from the ILO’s headquarters office who were linked in through videoconferencing for many of the discussions. Brian Smyth King of the Australian Department of Education gave the developed country perspective on the issue and provided information on the Bridging Pathways initiative, the successful Australian effort that has resulted in a major increase in the participation rates of disabled persons in its Technical and Further Education system. Ngo Thi Thy of Swisscontact in Viet Nam provided the NGO and developing country perspective on the issue. In addition, four of the participating countries prepared country reports for consideration.

The meeting was participatory and included a mix of presentations, working group activities and plenary discussions.

The meeting was deemed highly successful by the participants who gave high ratings for the interactive nature of the meeting, the working group activities and the networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities it presented. Participants made comments such as “good, open discussion, with clear points to work on”, and “it was a wonderful opportunity to gather with colleagues and work through the same type of issues that confront all of us.”

The meeting resulted in eight recommendations. The top three are as follows:

• The ILO should develop a code of practice (or equivalent guidance) and a manual on inclusive vocational training and disseminate the information to all stakeholders in the region.

• Governments should implement policies and laws on inclusive vocational training systems and universal education; they should adopt such policies and legislation if they do not already exist.

• Each country’s national forum of disabled persons (or the equivalent) should develop a database on training courses, employment opportunities and employment agencies relevant to people with disabilities.

The Expert Group Meeting represented the ILO contribution toward the achievement of one of the targets that form the basis of the Biwako Millennium Framework (BMF) of Action towards and Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific, an initiative of the United Nations to guide the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012. Target 11 of the BMF calls for the following: “By 2012, at least 20 per cent of all vocational training programmes in signatory countries will be inclusive of persons with disabilities and provide appropriate support and job placement of business development services for them.”

To read the full list of meeting recommendations and to learn more about the country situations, discussion, working groups, background and participants, consult the meeting proceedings and the individual country reports.

Proceedings of the Expert Group Meeting on Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Vocational Training, 14-16 February 2006 (pdf)

China Country Report (pdf)

Hong Kong SAR Report (pdf)

Korea Country Report (pdf)

KEPAD Country Report (pdf)

Philippines Country Report (pdf)

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