ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has emphasised the need for the implementation of job quotas for persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the government and private sectors of the country so as to make them financially empowered and include them in the mainstream of society.
“Almost 12-14 per cent of the country’s population comprised of PWDs and steps should be taken for their skill development as well as job placement in the public and private sectors,” the president expressed these views while chairing a follow-up meeting on the rights and facilitation of PWDs, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the provincial governments, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the senior officials of the ministries of Human Rights and Federal Education and Professional Training.
The representatives of the provincial governments apprised the meeting about the steps taken by them for the education of persons with disabilities, teacher training, curriculum development, skill development, job quotas, and job placement in different fields.
It was informed that the NAVTTC had enrolled almost 1,700 differently-abled people (DAPs) to equip them with different skills, besides providing them with free transportation and boarding facilities.
The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (M/o FE&PT) informed that training modules for teachers had been developed to inculcate attitudinal sensitivities in them towards students with disabilities and enable them to cater to the special educational needs of PWDs. It was further apprised that M/o FE&PT would train 1,000 teachers in this regard.
The representatives of provinces shared information regarding the total number of registration centres in their respective provinces and the number of registered PWDs in each region, apart from briefing the meeting on the implementation of reserved quotas for PWDs by their respective governments.
Addressing the meeting, the President urged the country's private sector to provide jobs to PWDs as per their skill-set, in different sectors of the economy, especially in the banking, industries, services and manufacturing sectors.
He added that provinces had enacted laws which provided for the employment of persons with disabilities in all public and private sector establishments, adding that the business community should be sensitised about the rights of persons with disabilities.
The president stressed that no student with a disability should be refused admission to any school in the country, adding that schools should have an adequate number of teachers to impart education to PWDs. He also called for imparting training to teachers to effectively educate students with disabilities in different schools in the country.
The president appreciated the efforts of the ministries of Human Rights, Federal Education and Professional Training, and Special Education departments of different provinces in imparting training to teachers and master trainers to cater to the special needs of students with disabilities.
He said that the national and provincial governments should share their best practices with each other and work for ensuring the rights of the PWDs.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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