Pre-Vocational and Vocational Training Programs for the Persons with Disabilities in Karachi, Pakistan

This research study has been designed to investigate the status of pre-vocational and vocational training programs for the persons with disabilities in Karachi. Data were collected with the help of structured questionnaire from 23 special schools located in Karachi and selected through purposive sampling. Hypotheses were tested through percentage and Chi-square method. Results of the study indicated that most of the special schools were offering only pre-vocational training programs and few schools were offering vocational courses. The reason for providing vocational courses was that fewer resources were needed to conduct the courses and not because of the market demands. There was no standard curriculum for the vocational courses offered to special students. The special schools did not have any record as to where as the students were absorbed after leaving the schools. Some students got jobs in the skill areas in which they were trained, some got jobs in other areas and some were said to”go home” with no further details on their activities. It was concluded that there are no such affective pre-vocational and vocational training programs for the persons with disabilities in Karachi.