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Special needs of skills to meet the needs of employers

by J. P. Pathirana, Regional Secretary for S.E. Asia, WCD

A seriously lacking concept in Sri Lanka is the concept of skilled needs to meet the needs of employers in the employment of disabled individuals in public and private sectors, as the lack of proper training institute in this country is lagging behind and though there are scores and scores of disabled individuals eligible for employment they still lack the skills needed to meet the needs of employers. What skills employers look for in disabled individuals is an important dimension of the employment process?

However, it is only one factor to consider for those involved in the education, training and job-placement process for disabled individuals.

One must consider employment of disabled individuals in a broad context. This is the context of career development which includes career selection, preparing an individual for a career, entry into the world of work and long term career accommodation. Since we are living in a rapidly changing technological world, the role of technology in the career development process is an additional consideration.

Career development is in reality a life long process. This process has as its primary objective that of preparing individuals for "earning a living" and "living a life". Individuals must have the necessary technical, personal, social and civic involvement. Success in meeting the latter needs to be measured in part in terms of the degree to which disabled individuals secure employment commensurate with their training and abilities and the degree to which they are able to move upward and laterally within their chosen career area. The process of career development includes preparing individuals for employment commensurate with their training and abilities and the degree to which they are able to move upward and laterally within their chosen career area.

The process of career development includes preparing individuals for employment in a complex and rapidly changing technological world. It also includes entry into a chosen career and long term career accommodation.

Preparation of a disabled individual for a career should be initiated early in a person's life. This involves the concept of a career awareness. Experiences should be provided in the early years that relate educational experience to the world of work. Career preparation also involves providing opportunities for individuals to assess their own values and interests relative to career options and then selection an option that is consistent with their values and interests, motivations, achievements and aptitude. Finally career preparation involves providing individuals with the education and training that will give them the skills necessary to enter a career.

The career selection, or job entry process, involves selectively matching an individual to a job. For disabled individuals this translates into a comprehensive placement programme that develops career opportunities for disabled people. Career development, however, does not end at the point of job entry. Disabled individuals must develop skills that will enable them to respond to a positive change - on and off the job. This relates directly to long-term accommodation in the work place and the larger society in which disabled people must function.

Application of Technology

There can be no mistake - we are living in an era of ever-advancing technology that is creating a hurricane of change in all human institutions. Consider change over time in genetic mixing and control, energy conversion, methods of travel, tools and weapons, mechanism of change and problem-solving and storage.

When we think of technology we generally think of machinery. However, technology".........in broader sense includes all practical knowledge, including information about which plants are good to eat, the words and grammatical structures with which we communicate and the social arrangements we have found effective. At its most general, technology might be defined as the ability to do things."

We will now turn to the role of technology that can play in preparing disabled individuals to select a career and develop the skills necessary to enter a career. The significance of the fact that technology, in its broadest sense, is a primary tool to be used in preparing disabled individuals for living in a technological world. The primary mission of all involved in developing programmes to meet the needs of disabled people is to reverse their employment history.

This can be accomplished by ensuring that each person is prepared for job entry and mobility through appropriate education and training.

Simultaneously, programme planners must maintain a comprehensive job placement programme which provides disabled people with every possible assistance in finding suitable employment by maintaining liaison with business and industry, employment agencies, organised labour, private and voluntary agencies and other sources of employment.

The job placement programme must actively and aggressively promote the development of opportunities for disabled people. To accomplish this basic mission, requires development of an innovative process - one that will not leave employment of disabled people a chance.

One key to successful placement is to ensure that disabled individuals have the competencies of skills that are needed by the employers. Technology is a powerful tool to us in development of such skills. Programme planners must ensure that education and training programmes designed for disabled individuals are marketable. To accomplish this all-important element requires that programmes developed meet both the needs of disabled people and the requirements of employers. It is fully expected that both will change and therefore the programme must also change to keep pace.

Marketing strategies

Employment of disabled individuals will not happen by chance. Aggressive and creating marketing strategies must be used to open the doors of employment to disabled people. Another important feature of a job placement programme is selectivity of marketing. Generally, employers are not aware of what skills the disabled people possess. They need to be educated to face that disabled people to have skills that are useful to employers that disabled people have assets in terms of productivity, stability, reliability and responsibility.

Often, with simple modifications in the work environment, skilled disabled workers can be successfully accommodated. There are variety of techniques that can be used to ensure that curricula developed are marketable.

Constant contact with employers is an important dimension in designing education and training programmes. Employers can participate on advisory committees that have as their primary role defining employment trends generally and more specifically the nature of the competencies required for successful job entry and mobility and it is here that Sri Lanka lags enormously in the match-making between the employer and the skilled disabled individual and the time is ripe to take appropriate action by the authorities concerned, to bring about a close liaison in the employment for disabled individuals and raise the skills needed to meet the needs of employers.

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