Better employment opportunities for disabled persons
The Working Party on Training and Employment for People with Disabilities has recommended to enhance the employment opportunities of disabled persons, in particular to arrange more capable sheltered workers to move on to supported or open employment.
This is stated by the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Ian Strachan, when he officiated at the opening ceremony of the Wai Ji Christian Service Headquarters in Tai Hang Tung Estate this (Friday) afternoon.
Mr Strachan said another recommendation is to set up, on an experimental basis, a marketing and resources unit to co-ordinate marketing issues for sheltered workshops.
"Sheltered workshops are one of the earliest rehabilitation services for persons with a disability. They provide sheltered employment for disabled persons who are unable to secure a job in the open market.
"Being able to go to work has far reaching implications on an individual, particularly for the disabled. Going some place, learning a skill, meeting people and earning income are all important to the overall well being of the sheltered workers," he said.
Pointing out that Hong Kong's economy had now changed from manufacturing industries to service industries because many factories had been relocated to mainland China to take advantage of the cheap land and labour there, Mr Strachan said this fact also affected the job orders of the sheltered workshops.
"Problems of restructuring sheltered workshops and increasing the productivity of sheltered workers have therefore become all the more urgent.
"In order to look into these problems in detail with a view to improving disabled persons' training and employment prospects, a working party was set up by me in 1994," he said, adding that the working party had completed its task and published its report in July.
Noting that the report had been widely distributed to concerned parties for consultation, Mr Strachan urged interested parties to give their comments which would be collated for the endorsement by the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee over the next few months.
End/Friday, November 3, 1995
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