SPD trainee doing some work on the computer

In appreciation of the support extended to persons with disabilities in helping to enhance their opportunities for employment, SPD received the Partners Award at the Enabling Employers Awards Gala Dinner held at Gardens by the Bay on 24 April.

Accepting the award with SPD’s President Ms Chia Yong Yong, SPD’s Executive Director Mr Abhimanyau Pal was happy to see more being done to help fund job accommodation and modification costs for companies with staff who have disabilities. He was responding to Minister for Social and Family Development Mr Chan Chun Sing’s announcement at the gala dinner of the new Open Door Programme (ODP), an expansion of the Open Door Fund managed by SG Enable.

Mr Pal said: “Employment is a crucial factor in the integration of persons with disabilities in the community, as it gives them the means to be self-reliant and financially independent. Sometimes employers may be apprehensive over what they need to do to meet the needs of a person with disabilities. In fact, modifications to the working environment need not be extensive and can be as simple as making slight adjustments to office furniture and installing automatic doors. The Open Door Programme provides important resources for companies to implement workplace adaptation and modification as well as to provide training to help inculcate integration within their organisations. The programme will certainly help people with disabilities fare better in the open market.”

At the event, the Minister shared the Government’s plan to invest about $30 million into ODP over the next three years. Primarily funded by the Singapore Workforce Development Authority, the ODP would also be supplemented by the Ministry for Social and Family Development.