Role of Vocational Training in Enhancing Entrepreneurial Skill Development among Children with Intellectual Disabilities: An Empirical Study

Access to appropriate vocational and entrepreneurial skills to secure sustainable jobs and enable independent living for children with intellectual disabilities is often challenging. Schooling-based education systems have been traditionally focused on academic performance with a minimal focus on developing the needed skills, limiting their economic contribution and social integration. Vocational training has proven to be an effective approach to imparting these children with occupational competencies, as well as with communication skills, abilities in transforming a problem into a solution, financial knowledge and self-confidence which are all important elements of entrepreneurship. The study is empirical research that involves a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of vocational training for the children with intellectual disability in special schools, inclusive education institutions and rehabilitation centres of the selected countries of the study. Structured questionnaires, interviews, and observations in a mixed-method research approach is used to collect the data from children, vocational instructors, teachers, and parents. This study evaluates important entrepreneurial skills like creativity, decision-making, team work, leadership, financial awareness and self-reliance and aims to discover the institutional, social and policy challenges that affect the training. The data analysis used is statistical analysis, which is used to analyse the relationship between vocational training and entrepreneurial skill development. The outcomes are anticipated to provide strong evidence that children with intellectual disabilities have improved enterprise capabilities, self-sufficiency and employability as a result of the successful development and application of vocational education. The study concludes with recommendations for policy support, available entrepreneurial education curricula, industry partnerships, capacity building of teachers and various other recommendations that include the role of the family in increasing the socioeconomic inclusion and quality of life for children with intellectual disabilities. Keywords: inclusive education; Intellectual Disabilities; Vocational Training; Entrepreneurial Skills; Self-employment.