Publications : ILO Publications :

Integrating Women and Girls with Disabilities into Mainstream Vocational Training
6. Review

Your vocational training centre can provide increased opportunities to people with disabilities by equipping them with skills that will give them an advantage in the labour market. As for everyone, work is central in the lives of disabled people. It provides an income, deepens self-esteem, gains respect from others, expands social contacts, and brings new opportunities.

Among people with disabilities, disabled women are the most disadvantaged and marginalized. In receiving vocational training, they face many barriers:

• negative attitudes towards their disabilities
   
• bias in favour of boys and men
   
• lack of entry requirements for vocational training programmes
   
• lack of information about available vocational training programmes
   
• lack of vocational guidance in selecting the appropriate training programme
   
• tuition fees and other training-related costs
   
• lack of transport or inaccessible transport
   
• inaccessible training centre buildings
   
• lack of suitable and accessible accommodation
   
• lack of confidence and experience of mainstream vocational training instructors in teaching disabled students
   
• low self-esteem
   
• overprotective families
   
• lack of policy support to increase the participation of women with disabilities in vocational training
   
• barriers to finding subsequent employment.

To help them overcome these barriers and equalize opportunities for them, special attention and action are needed to increase their participation in vocational training.

Many of the barriers are due to ignorance and negative attitudes. To change their attitudes, people need:

• factual information about disability
   
• opportunities to interact with disabled persons.

Buildings and facilities should be accessible to students with disabilities, particularly those who are physically disabled or visually impaired. Inaccessibility prevents them from using services and facilities they are rightfully entitled to. Inaccessibility isolates them.

• Remember it is important to set specific targets.
   
• Advertisements and information about application must reach as many of those who may qualify as possible. You should target organizations that work with or for disabled persons and women, and make sure they receive information about your training programmes.
   
• Flexibility with the entry qualifications and the duration of training is important for students with disabilities.
   
• Fitting the disabled student to the right training programme (and therefore to a range of jobs in the future) is crucial.
   
• Financial support frequently makes a difference to whether a disabled student can participate in a training programme or not. Remember: a student with disabilities often has additional costs – for example more expensive transport, additional equipment and materials.
   
• Accessible and convenient accommodation is important to disabled students. For disabled women, security is a concern.

Remember that each student is an individual and has her own special learning needs. Teaching disabled students effectively is not difficult once you know what their particular needs are.

Disabled students should be part of the community at the vocational training centre. While some have no problems fitting in and forming friendships, others may need additional support. You can help build their confidence in interacting with others and you can create opportunities for others to interact with them. Remember that one of the most effective ways to change negative attitudes about disabled people is through direct interaction.

Identify and link up with organizations that provide various relevant services, such as:

• organizations of and for disabled people
  which provide counselling, volunteer services for personal assistance, reading, sign-language interpretation, information on assistive devices, equipment and appropriate technology for people with disabilities, information on government policies, a range of informal training activities, social activities, job placement services
   
• special education departments of the Ministry of Education
  which provide teaching materials and aids, student grants and other grants to institutions involved in the education of disabled persons
   
• employment placement agencies
  which provide job placement services for disabled students when training is completed.

Remember that vocational training provides people with specific jobrelated skills. It therefore increases their chances of finding work – not just any work, but decent work. Vocational training furthers the education disabled people have received in school. In some cases, it compensates for the earlier lack of opportunities for an adequate education. Integrating disabled people, including women with disabilities, into your vocational training programmes will make an important difference to their lives.

6. Review
Integrating Women and Girls with Disabilities into Mainstream Vocational Training

top of the page