Training Gate - Kuwait
In early November, Kifayah Al-Alban, Nora Al-Othman, and Carol Marshall of Training Gate (TG) – Kuwait visited with Dr. Paul Wehman, Dr. Katherine Inge, Ms. Valerie Brooke, and Ms. Cameron Carter in Richmond to learn about employment opportunities and supports available to employees with disabilities. The group visited employees with disabilities throughout the city working in competitive jobs. Many of these individuals were placed through VCU-RRTC's Business Connections. During the visit, a potential long-term partnership was discussed to address challenges associated with the employment of people with disabilities in Kuwait.
TG is a Kuwaiti company, established in November 2009, as the first and the only one of its kind in Kuwait to operate as a specialized human resources development company. In collaboration with international partners, TG focuses on training and skills development for people with disabilities, their families, advocates, teachers, supervisors, co-workers, and related professional service providers in both public and private sectors.
The Government of Kuwait has recently passed a law: The Rights for People with Disabilities 8-2010 that ensures that people with disabilities will have the support needed for successful integration into society. Among other areas, the law focuses on job readiness and skills training for people with disabilities and for their employers and coworkers. The new law also focuses on the inclusion of students with disabilities into educational settings in the least restrictive environments and support for parents of children with disabilities.
VCU-RRTC and TG are currently discussing a long-term partnership, expected to begin in early 2011. Through this prospective partnership, TG intends to provide vocational training for newly employed blind, deaf, and mobility impaired adults, who do not have intellectual disabilities but have had little access to job-skills training. TG aims to meet this need as a means to insure increased productivity, independence, and job satisfaction for these employees. In order to accomplish this goal, TG has requested to work with VCU-RRTC to increase its capacity to train and support individuals with disabilities already in employment settings and increase the capacity of employers in hiring and retaining these employees.
Learn more about Training Gate's Celebration of the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3, 2010:
