Policy brief

Making apprenticeships and workplace learning inclusive of persons with disabilities

Persons with disabilities face many challenges to entering the labour market, including negative preconceptions about their work capacities and lower educational achievements due to exclusionary training practices. Apprenticeships and workplace learning can effectively respond to many of the challenges by proving to employers the professional potential of disabled persons and improving their vocational skills.

Governments, skills development institutions, employers and other stakeholders – including workers’ organizations and those of persons with disabilities – have a role in promoting a positive environment that allows persons with disabilities to be fully productive in the workplace. Examples from around the world demonstrate how disability-inclusive apprenticeships and workplace learning can be put into practice.