People with disabilities will be given more targeted help to secure and stay in employment as well as move about Singapore on their own, reports the Straits Times. These plans are built on 21 recommendations by two work groups on issues such as barrier-free accessibility, digital inclusion, bringing job support services and strengthening the soft skills curriculum in special education schools. The government has accepted these recommendations, which were announced by the Ministry of Social and Family Development earlier this week. Some were already rolled out by ministries and agencies last year, while more will be progressively implemented from the second half of this year.

The employment work group's 10 recommendations seek to better prepare students with special educational needs for employment, create new employment opportunities for people with disabilities, support them in upgrading their skills, and better recognise and incentivise inclusive employers. “All these years, we have been trying to enable persons with disabilities so they can work like us. We hope more of them can be absorbed into the workforce by either providing the support that they need or training that the employers want us to give,” Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said.