Panaji: State govt has notified a new scheme under which persons aged 15 and above with intellectual disabilities will be able to secure Class X equivalence certificate if they complete an individualised vocational training programme with 80% marks and finish a three months’ internship working in the industry.The scheme ‘Equivalence Certificate for Class 10 for persons with intellectual disabilities’ states that it is to help persons with intellectual disabilities secure wage employment or self-employment, making them economically independent.
The scheme is expected to help them also take up further education in skill development.To be eligible the person with intellectual disability should be of IQ 70 or below, complete three years of structural training under the programme, he/she should be resident of Goa for a period of not less than five years, and he/she should be assessed using CAT (Comprehensive Assessment Tool) for intellectual disabilities.At the end of the training programme, the candidate will be assessed based on personal care, communication & interpersonal skills, social-emotional maturity, cognitive skills, motor skills, workplace behaviour, among other things. The individual should secure 80% in this assessment to be eligible for the equivalence scheme.“Individuals must score at least 80% in individualised vocational training programme (IVTP) assessment, which consists of practicals conducted by internal and external examiners deputed by the board. Final marksheet/certificate will be issued by Goa Board,” the scheme states.The individual will be sent for the internship for three months in any of the following area—housekeeping and facility support, filing and office support, packing and handling, and kitchen and hospitality.
