Financial Autonomy for Unemployed and Disadvantaged Adolescents with Disabilities through Punjab Vocational Training Institutions

The central focus of this quantitative exploration was to know the awareness level of poor and disadvantaged students with disabilities (hearing impaired, visually impaired, physically handicapped and mild mentally challenged) about demand driven skill training provided by Punjab Vocational Training Institutions. A sample of 105 students with disabilities (male and female) enrolled in elementary and secondary level special education schools and centres located in Lahore division were selected through simple random sampling technique. A self developed and validated questionnaire (Cronbach Alpha 0.92) on five point Likert scale was used to elicit their responses. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. ANOVA was employed to find difference in awareness level among the students of four disabilities, t-test was used to find difference on the basis of gender, type of schools (public private), and locale (urban rural). No significant mean difference was found on the basis of gender. There was a significant difference on the basis of type of schools and disabilities. Recommendations were made to Government of the Punjab, Punjab Special Education Department, and private sector to increase employability through the enrolment of students with disabilities in Punjab Vocational Training Institutions.