Role of Education and Skill Development for Economic and Financial Empowerment of Differently-abled Persons

Abstract

Education and skill development are both indispensable tools for economic and financial empowerment as both the above factors contribute towards (re)employment generation which is an important step towards the rehabilitation and empowerment of a differently-abled person (person with disability), because it provides a sense of belonging, independence and increase their social inclusion and overall well-being. The study was undertaken on differently abled persons with varying educational background and skill training across gender to access if education and skill have any association in employment status and accessibility to financial services, with special emphasis on the city of Kolkata (West Bengal).
Better employment status and accessibility to financial services are indicators of economic and financial empowerment, whereas education and skill development are tools to achieve them. Differently-abled individuals were selected as sample. The results evidently reflect a disparity in level of education among males and females. Females with disability lack in education level. It was observed better level of education has strong association to employment status as well as financial accessibility. These results suggest that the vocational training programme improved the (re)entry of persons with disabilities into employment, which in turn aided their rehabilitation. This assessment may be the first of its kind in the country and could be used as the basis for further evaluation and policy development.