Exploring the Entrepreneurship Education Landscape for Learners with Visual Impairments in Punjab: A Qualitative Study of Vocational Teachers’ Perspectives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52461/sabas.v7i2.4579Keywords:
Entrepreneurship Education, Vocational training, Visual impairment, Special education, PunjabAbstract
It is well known that entrepreneurship education provides a means of economic empowerment of learners with visual impairments but the extent to which it has been incorporated in special-education vocational training in Pakistan has not been well studied. This qualitative research paper reviewed on the prevailing situation of entrepreneurship related vocational training in government special education institutions in Punjab. Six vocational teachers in six districts were interviewed (Semi-structured interviews) and thematic analysis was conducted according to the framework of Braun and Clarke (2006). There were five key themes: (1) constrained facilities and infrastructural, (2) gaps in curriculum and pedagogical, (3) teacher initiative and informal efforts, (4) institutional and socio-cultural barriers and (5) opportunities to improve and include. In general, the results suggest that despite high motivation and adaptive orientation, teachers, aged resources, inadequate financing, and the lack of entrepreneurship courses in the curricula can considerably restrain the entrepreneurial preparedness of the learners. In spite of these limitations, the participants were hopeful about the modernization of curriculum, training of teachers and institutional relations. The paper shows that a paradigm shift in terms of policy is necessary, which would connect vocational education and economic empowerment of the disabled community through inclusion of the visually impaired in education.
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