Context: In comparison to other States in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore has a relatively low overall unemployment rate (4.4 per cent in 2020) and youth unemployment rate (8.4 per cent in 2020). Despite these comparatively low rates, in recent years, Singapore has continued to implement numerous programmes and schemes aimed at minimizing unemployment. Singapore has also been praised for its efforts towards increasing inclusivity in the workplace, achieving a Global Gender Gap Index of 0.8 and striving for equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.
Implementation of programme/ initiative: The School-to-Work (S2W) Transition Programme is a multi-agency collaboration programme created by the Singaporean Government’s Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and SG Enable, in partnership with specialized schools geared to assisting students with certain disabilities. The programme offers customized training pathways and work options for students with a diverse range of disability profiles; it provides guidance to assist students in making a smooth transition into employment. Based on the individual vocational profile and needs of each student, suitable pathways are recommended. These opportunities include essential training and internships with the ultimate goal of securing full-time employment for its participants. In 2014, MoE, MSF and SG Enable assembled a prototype of this programme which was subsequently implemented in 2015, supporting 40 students in five schools specialized for assisting students with disabilities. Since 2016, the programme has continued to run and has been expanded in phases to span more schools. S2W Transition begins in a student’s final year of high-school education and extends up to one year after graduation in the form of employment counselling. Eligible applicants are students enrolled in participating schools already registered with the programme.
Main challenges: During the process, some students believed their original aspirations were unattainable and therefore decided to pursue different career paths. The programme highlighted key difficulties in establishing more collaboration with industry partners that currently lack sufficient support for persons with disabilities, thus, limiting the scope of the available areas of work.
Results achieved: Overall, the programme’s results have been very positive. In 2015, 80 per cent of students who participated in the prototype were able to secure subsequent employment in the company they originally entered and 83 per cent stayed in employment for at least six months. The prototype has demonstrated that it has contributed to better educational planning and decision-making among the students. In 2020, the scheme featured approximately 20 businesses. Students themselves have reported feeling a sense of self-worth from being able to earn an income and contribute economically to their families. Parents have shared that the programme has helped their children to acquire key work skills and habits, such as improved communication skills and greater levels of self-confidence, which have encouraged parents to grant their children more independence and responsibility in carrying out daily activities. Employers have expressed greater enthusiasm towards establishing a more inclusive culture as staff have begun to develop more positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities.
Moving Forward: In the near future, MoE, MSF and SG Enable plan to extend the benefits of S2W Transition to a greater number of schools. Furthermore, the programme aims to establish additional partnerships in more industries to provide a broader scope of available career pathways. The programme hopes to continue running in the coming years and help more students with disabilities transition smoothly into professional employment.
Replicability: The collaboration between MoE, MSF and SG Enable demonstrates how cross-agency collaboration can have far-reaching results in assisting youth to successfully transition from education to employment. S2W Transition highlights the importance for workplaces to allocate sufficient resources to support persons with disabilities in their worksites and foster increasingly inclusive environments. It is also fundamental for programmes to expose students with genuine experience of professional working life, including workplace culture and common expectations and challenges. All in all, this initiative from the Singaporean Government can be used as an exemplary model for countries in the region and beyond wishing to increase employment opportunities available for students with disabilities, maintain low unemployment rates and promote wider inclusivity across society.
Acknowledgement:
This good practice was kindly prepared by Ms. Alysha Brahmantiara Putri.
References:
https://employment.sgenable.sg/students/special-education-students/
www.autismstep.com./articles-and-journals/life-after-graduation-special-education-students-at-work/
Project Details
Date: February 23, 2021