Persons with disabilities are more productive workers

Persons with disabilities are often more productive and loyal to their employers than employees without disabilities, said speakers at a discussion in the capital yesterday.

They said their turnover rate and absenteeism was also lower, but the challenge was finding trained personnel.

The programme styled "Meet the Training and Employment Needs of Young People with Disability" was organised at The Daily Star Centre by Access Bangladesh Foundation and ActionAid.  

Referring to a study by Action on Disability and Development International study, Salahuddin Kasem Khan, president of Bangladesh Employers' Federation, said, "In Bangladesh, the cost of disability due to forgone income, from lack of schooling and employment, of both people with disabilities and their caregivers is estimated at US$1.2 billion annually or 1.7 percent of GDP."

"We need more labour, but we do not know the skill of persons with disabilities -- what they can do and in which area we can employ them," said Ayub Ali, senior assistant secretary of research and development, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

"Out of 3,600 of our workers, 600 plus are persons with disabilities. Not only are they more productive, they are also very good at pacifying aggressive workers and handling unrest," said Syed Shakeel Ahad, manager of Beximco Textiles.

"Since 2006 we employed 37 persons with disabilities and wish to employ  another 13 next year," said Md Nasimul Islam, head of admin and human resources division of Artisan Ceramics Ltd.

Albert Mollah, executive director of Access Bangladesh Foundation, noted that very few persons with disabilities have access to Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions in the country.

A survey on 19 such institutions showed that only 15 students with disabilities were studying there.

Md Monir Hosen, chairman and CEO of Creative IT Limited, which trains and employs persons with hearing impairment, said they would like to train visually impaired persons in the IT sector but did not know how to.

Vashkar Bhattacharjee, national consultant -- web accessibility, A2i project at Prime Minister's Office, who is visually impaired, said, "If you invest in skill development, then persons with disability can work."