Building a future for and with disabled youth
Learners from more than 40 schools (including Krugersdorp's Curamus School for Autism) attended the largest-ever Disability Summit and Career Expo.
The Disability Summit and Career Expo, said to be Africa’s largest gathering for promoting and enabling employment opportunities for people with disabilities, recently took place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre at Nasrec.
Over 45 schools in the country, including Curamus School for Autism in Krugersdorp, made their way to the expo, to find out more about corporate career opportunities and what companies are looking for when attracting people with disabilities into their employment.
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) was once again the headline sponsor for this year’s Disability Summit and Career Expo. This state-supported insurance fund partnered on this annual initiative to provide valid and relevant information to these students, graduates and entrepreneurs with physical or intellectual disabilities.
According to the events head public relations officer Leigh Callipolitis, the benefits of hiring persons with disabilities may be widely acknowledged, yet demystifying and highlighting the largely marginalised disability sector, as well as accessing relevant skills within this sector, remains a challenge. Only one in nine South Africans living with a disability is employed.
“The expo is an important platform to highlight how workplace inclusion of people with disabilities needs to be prioritised. Learners attending this year’s summit were able to connect with over 30 corporates and heard from a range of inspirational speakers about what opportunities await them after school.”
Leigh said the Summit also included career demonstrations as well as exhibitions of wheelchair tennis, blind cricket, foot and mouth painters and a guest appearance by marathon runner Ipeleng “Crazy Legs” Khunou, who runs marathons on his crutches to raise awareness about what can be achieved by people with disabilities.
“Effecting transformative change in the disability arena takes a collaborative effort, and it is for this reason that we once again partnered on this year’s expo,” added the Road Accident Fund’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Noluthando Mvabaza.
“This event helped to inspire these learners and reiterated the valuable asset they can be to corporate South Africa.”
