By Navendra Seoraj

THROUGH an integrated training programme, the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is seeking to sensitise heads and seniors of post-secondary institutions across the country about the importance of giving persons with special needs the opportunity for tertiary education.The programme commenced on Thursday at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), and participants were introduced to disability awareness in its entirety as it relates to the legal framework, and to understanding disability and disability etiquette.

Addressing the gathering, Director of the Council for TVET, Sydney Walters, disclosed: “Disabled persons must have access to post-secondary education, since, like any other individual, they have equal rights to a proper education and other beneficial opportunities.”

During the integrated training programme, which will run for two days, issues will be addressed that are deemed “a weakness in the TVET system,” since there had been multiple difficulties when it came to dealing with persons with special needs.

Throughout the sessions, the intent is to provide information on the legal framework on the rights of persons with disabilities, so that educators will be better equipped to deal with persons with special needs.

Educators, Walters said, will also be made aware of the methods and skills necessary in order to effectively impart knowledge to trainees or students who are disabled in some way.

The programme will be facilitated by Dr Beverly Beckles, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities, a Trinidad organisation, along with her associates, who are fully qualified and versed in the field of disability.

Walters said the TVET will be moving to set up public relations systems to recruit students with disabilities who are firmly interested in furthering their studies.

And after accumulating tertiary knowledge, graduates will have the opportunity to be employed or to gain further education when the TVET Council rolls out its Transitional Programme Committee shortly.

When those come on stream, the Council for TVET hopes to boost the capacity and ability of persons living with disabilities by empowering them through education and employment, while also continuing the advocacy for betterment of persons living with disabilities.