Employment of Persons with Disabilities

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Acting Minister for Social and Family Development with regard to the campaign by the National Council of Social Service to encourage the public to make pledges of action to enhance the lives of persons with disabilities (a) how many pledges have been made by employers currently; (b) how many are pledges to employ persons with disabilities; and (c) what plans does the Ministry have to encourage more pledges by employers to employ persons with disabilities.

The "We are Able!" campaign was launched by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) in March 2013. The aim is to raise awareness of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which we have signed, as well as to encourage Singaporeans to pledge achievable actions towards building a more inclusive society for persons with disabilities. As of 2 July, 466 pledges have been garnered. Of these, 40 were pledges to support the employment of persons with disabilities.

I would like to assure Members that we will continue to work with the disability sector and employers to help promote employment for persons with disabilities. Beyond this campaign, we are implementing other actions under the Enabling Masterplan. For example, SG Enable – a dedicated agency to support the needs of persons with disabilities – will commence operations this quarter. One of its priorities is to enhance the employment of persons with disabilities. It will work with agencies, such as MOE, WDA, Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) and training providers, to raise the employability of persons with disabilities and expand the work options available for them. We will also continue to review schemes and programmes aimed at facilitating the employment of persons with disabilities.