Special-education schools' first grads

Certification opens job opportunities for them

By Janice Tai
TWO special-education schools here have produced their first batch of graduates with nationally recognised qualifications.

Some students from Metta School and Delta Senior School, having gone through a five-year course, now have national vocational certification that has opened up employment opportunities for them in areas such as housekeeping and food preparation.

Of the 96 of them, all with mild intellectual disabilities, 84 have landed jobs.

This education programme, a result of tie-ups the two schools made with the Institute of Technical Education and the Workforce Development Agency, is aimed at ensuring that such students continue with training and then employment after they finish school.

The graduates of the programme have been welcomed by employers, who say they have the skills needed for the jobs they do.

Added Ms Kim Ong, the executive housekeeper of Crowne Plaza Hotel at Changi Airport: 'By employing special-education students, the hospitality and food and beverage industries can alleviate their manpower crunch as well.'

Han's Cafe and Holiday Inn off Orchard Road have also taken to hiring these job seekers: 10 per cent of the 400 employees at Han's are former special-education students; at Holiday Inn, 8 per cent of the 282 employees have disabilities.

Both employers plan to increase the number of such workers.

Mr Chua Chin Kiat, who chairs the Enabling Masterplan Steering Committee, which makes recommendations to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, to step up the integration of such individuals into mainstream life, described the programme as a 'positive step' towards helping these individuals find jobs.

To run this programme, the facilities in both schools were upgraded at a total cost of $30 million to include mock hotel rooms and industrial kitchens for students to train in.

Former Delta Senior School student Muhammad Reedzwan Mohd Zain, now a service assistant in serviced-apartment chain Fraser Place, said: 'Although the industrial kitchen I trained in was bigger than the one I eventually worked in, it was good that the environment was familiar, and the kitchen skills I picked up could be transferred over.'

He has progressed to creating a yogurt fruit salad that now features in the chain's breakfast buffet.

And Mr Idwan Abu Sharma, also from Delta, has gone beyond his job as a houseman at Holiday Inn to mentoring new trainees from special-education schools.

Former Metta School student Chia Wei Xuan, who has a skills certificate in food preparation, said it was a bit of a struggle when he started out as a member of the service crew at Han's Cafe last year.

'Every week, my class ended at 2pm, but I stayed back until 5pm with the chef, who went over the cooking steps with me,' said the 20-year-old.

Besides becoming more financially independent and boosting their confidence, employment has enhanced their overall independence.

Take Ms Nurul Asyikhin Ismail, 20, now a laundry assistant at Crowne Plaza Hotel. When she started work, her teacher had to accompany her to show her which bus and train to take to work.

'It was quite scary at first,' she said.

But she now gets to and from work on her own; her mother also lets her manage her own monthly pay.

Metta School vice-principal Anuwar Abdul Wahab said: 'Before the certification was introduced, these students did not have many job opportunities. Now, many of them have jobs and are paid better, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Social Service.'

It was announced last week that a steering committee will be set up to see what else can be done for those with disabilities over the next five years, including helping more of them make a seamless transition from school to employment.

jantai@sph.com.sg
Copyright © 2011 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Young people with disabilities could be given more training and job opportunities to help them make the transition from school to the workforce.

By Judith Tan, 21 Sept 2011

Young people with disabilities could be given more training and job opportunities to help them make the transition from school to the workforce.

This is just one of the areas being examined by a new steering committee set up to meet the needs of the disabled over the next five years.

At the moment, the Government works with firms and voluntary groups who run training and employment programmes for school leavers.

The 32-member committee, chaired by former director of prisons Chua Chin Kiat, wants to build on these schemes. It also aims to identify any gaps and plug them, so those with disabilities can transfer smoothly from classroom to workplace.

‘We want to make sure that after their education, the disabled continue with employment and training opportunities,’ Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing told reporters yesterday. ‘We want to make sure there is a seamless transition for people in this sector so they get cared for in a continuum.’

Disabled youngsters are typically educated at special schools such as Pathlight School and Grace Orchard School. When they leave, usually around the age of 18, they can be taken on as trainees with establishments such as Holiday Inn.

Beyond that age, some of these adults have fallen through the cracks.

These are just the people who could be thrown a lifeline if more schemes like the one run by Holiday Inn are set up. Eight per cent of the 282 employees at the chain’s Orchard Road hotel are disabled.

‘They work in both the back end such as the kitchen and housekeeping, as well as dealing directly with customers,’ said general manager Kanchan Kanwar. She added that the target is to have them make up 10 per cent of the workforce.

The longest-serving disabled employee is cleaner Edward Wong, 43, who has worked there for 21 years. ‘I stay with the hotel because I get to learn a lot from my colleagues and I can be independent,’ he said.

Yesterday, Mr Chan visited Holiday Inn’s centre for training and integration in Orchard Road. The minister praised employers ‘who have gone out of their way to provide training and employment opportunities’ for the disabled.

He said the Government’s latest Enabling Masterplan, which will run until 2016, is expected to be ready by early next year.

‘We want to develop a greater variety of operational models to fit people with different abilities,’ said Mr Chan. ‘Some would require a bit more government involvement, others a bit more private. We are all prepared to have different models to cater to the different needs.’

He told the media he has appointed Mr Sam Tan, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, to oversee this sector.

Mr Tan said he is looking forward to taking on this portfolio, adding that disabled people can be just as productive as their able-bodied peers ‘given the right platform, right training and right environment and support’.

Colonel Milton Ong, deputy chairman of the new committee, said: ‘We have identified three key focus areas where we think more work needs to be done, namely early intervention, education and employment, and adult care.’

He added that the aim is to help disabled people maximise their potential ‘and embrace them fully in our society’.

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reprinted with permission.