By Zareef Muzammil
SHAH ALAM, Aug 16 — Selangor government intends to set up an Independent Living Support Centre (ILSC) in each district within the state to provide training and skills for persons with disabilities (OKU) aged 18 and above.
State executive councillor for public health and family development Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said they are currently working with the Social Welfare Department and non-governmental organisation (NGO) to identify the location for the centres.
She added that the Education Department has also started finding graduates from Sekolah Menengah Pendidikan Khas who are eligible to receive sponsorship during their training at the centres.
“Even though we already have 59 community-based rehabilitation centres (PPDK) but it has its own field of training. So for the ILSC, we want to train the OKUs who are secondary school graduates with certain skills such as baking cakes and sewing.
“With this initiative, it will not only complete the whole ecosystem for the special needs children but also provide them with an opportunity to become independent and generate an income,” she said.
She said this after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor (Yawas) and the Selangor Social Welfare Department at De Palma Hotel here today.
Meanwhile, Dr Siti Mariah said her team would visit Australia this weekend to learn about the management of the OKU centres and emulate it in Selangor.
“Previously we had visited similar centres in the United Kingdom and saw how good they were in handling special needs children. So we hope that Selangor can also set up independent learning centres for high school graduates OKUs, “ she said,
The 2022 Selangor Budget has allocated RM1 million for the establishment of ILSC to train OKUs aged 18 and above who have learning difficulties so that they could become independent and continue living a better life.
