S'pore aims to have 40% of people with disabilities employed by 2030

Singapore aims to have 40 per cent of working-age people with disabilities employed by 2030, up from 30 per cent currently. The goal was set out in the fourth and latest road map to support them and enable them to contribute to society.

The Enabling Masterplan 2030 (EMP2030) also laid out initiatives for employers to move the country towards this goal over the next eight years. It recommended a task force to design other employment models for people with disabilities, such as micro-jobs or temporary tasks that can help more of them get work.

The 40 per cent employment rate goal would mean placing another estimated 10,000 people with disabilities into jobs.

Singapore Business Federation vice-chairman Gan Seow Kee, who co-chaired a 27-member committee that worked on the masterplan, said: "Employment of persons is not just an economic matter. It can provide a sense of participation in society, of contributing to society, a sense of being included, which is... what EMP2030 is all about."

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Eric Chua, the other co-chair, and Mr Gan launched the report yesterday at social service agency Awwa's Adult Disability Home and Day Activity Centre in Pasir Ris.

The committee was convened in July last year and it consulted over 300 people with disabilities, their families and caregivers, as well as disability sector professionals.

All its 29 recommendations have been accepted, said Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli, who received the report on behalf of the Government. "This is a significant piece of work, which describes in tangible terms what an inclusive Singapore would look like by 2030, and provides a framework for us to be able to track our progress along the way," he said.

Among the recommendations is increased access to disability support services. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) will pilot Enabling Services Hubs, or centres that focus on people with disabilities with support needs living nearby who do not have regular activities to keep them engaged.

These will provide coaching in areas such as daily living skills, social-emotional learning, physical activity and the arts, host social inclusion activities and offer drop-in respite care. They will also reach out to residents with disabilities to understand their needs and link them to relevant help services.

The MSF is also developing a centralised Disability Register which pulls together data on people with disabilities from different agencies to better deliver services to them.

The recommendations also called for improvements to physical and digital infrastructure.

The Ministry of Transport and the Land Transport Authority will install on-demand audible traffic signals - a series of loud beeps that indicate it is safe to cross - that operate round the clock at 325 pedestrian crossings. These will be in 10 town centres with a higher number of residents with visual impairment.

A task force will also be formed to develop new models of community living for people with disabilities. It will identify housing and care options for people with different disability types and support needs, and design models to aid them in living and taking part in the community.

EMP2030 also seeks to improve digital accessibility, aiming to have 70 per cent of free-to-air TV programmes carry sign language interpretation, captioning or subtitling, up from 48 per cent now. It also wants all high-traffic government websites to be accessible.

Unlike past plans, EMP2030 includes targets to track each area and measure Singapore's progress.

Mr Chua said: "We have set targets for the first time... challenging targets. But we are not about to shy away from these targets because we believe these are what we must do for the community."