Access to Education Opportunities for Disabled Persons after Compulsory Education
There are several activities and training programmes, meant to promote professional training of young disabled people after compulsory schooling. The training programme depends on the disability of the person and leads seldom to an effective and lasting employment.
In Norway there are services and centres that include:
a) orientation and professional training, offering a theoretical and practical training in different specialities, such as cooking, house-keeping, and gardening,
b) a service that assures integration (if possible) and guidance for disabled persons,
c) a service of re-education.
The number of persons leaving school is not exactly known. In Upper Secondary School 4% of students drop out. There are disabled persons for whom it is impossible to find an ordinary employment or to get placed in a protected work-shop/ centre.
The "Service and centre for disabled workers" has a mission to train and re-educate disabled persons suffering from their ability to work.
Existing Transition Programmes
There are different transition programmes in Norway, but it is still up to each community to chose and decide what they do in the transition process.
After compulsory education, disabled persons often get their service in the "Centres for protected workshop".
Employment Situation For Disabled People
The disabled persons, who cannot do an ordinary job, have to find their place in the sector of protected work. It is difficult to find an ordinary job with a regular payment for disabled persons. Despite some open-minded employers, it is difficult to find an employment for most of the disabled people.
Legal Measures
In Norway we have no legal measure or action, which favour employment for disabled people. It has been a focus on the need for a legal measure and action, but we are still waiting for something to happen. After finishing Upper Secondary School the Employment Administration take over the service for disabled workers.
Transition Background, Processes and Results
We have succeeded in achieving the integration of children with special educational needs in ordinary schools. The integration into working life is still difficult, because the politicians will not take any legal action to solve the problem. It is up to the local district to find its own solution.
In different places in Norway there have been experiences of solving the problem, and the result has been different types of models for transition from school to working life.
The reality is in contradiction with good pedagogical intentions. The disabled persons have little possibility of finding ordinary employment.
After having found ordinary employment, the disabled persons are not assisted anymore. |