Today, EfVET joins the global community in marking the International Day of People with Disabilities, reaffirming our commitment to an inclusive VET ecosystem where every learner can thrive.
This year’s theme — “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress” — resonates deeply with our mission. Ensuring real inclusion means not only recognising the diversity of learners, but actively removing the barriers that prevent them from accessing quality vocational education, meaningful training pathways, and dignified employment.
Across our work, we increasingly see how inclusive practices must evolve alongside the changing needs of learners. Studies and recent reflections in the field continue to highlight the challenges faced by people with disabilities: unclear instructions, inflexible assessment methods, lack of early support, limited recognition of diverse cognitive profiles, and structural inequalities that still persist across Europe. These barriers are not inevitable — they are transformable, and VET can be a powerful driver of that transformation.
Technology as a catalyst for inclusion
Today, the rapid development of technology and Artificial Intelligence is opening new opportunities for personalised learning and fairer assessment processes. AI-supported tools can help educators create clearer, targeted, and differentiated learning pathways; adapt assessment instructions; and provide better scaffolding for learners with diverse needs.
These advances show a clear path forward: technology, when used ethically and humanely, can become an enabler of participation, dignity, and autonomy for learners with disabilities.
EfVET’s commitment to disability-inclusive VET
At EfVET, inclusion is not a slogan — it is embedded across our actions, partnerships, and projects.
🔹 Through initiatives such as GIVE – Governance for Inclusive Vocational Excellence [https://www.thegiveproject.eu/], we support the creation of inclusive VET ecosystems, empowering educators and institutions to adapt curricula, strengthen accessibility, and promote excellence for all.
🔹 Our global Inclusive Vocational Excellence & Wellbeing Working Group, developed in collaboration with WERA, IDG, and Karanga Global [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9236845/], is building knowledge, research, and international dialogue to place human wellbeing, inclusion, and diversity at the heart of vocational learning.
Yet, the challenges ahead remain significant. EfVET is keenly aware of the need for:
• Stronger, more comprehensive training for teachers and trainers to better support learners with disabilities and neurodiverse profiles
• Addressing social barriers, including stigma, misconceptions, and lack of awareness
• Overcoming structural obstacles, from accessibility gaps to insufficient learner support systems
• Ensuring that technological innovation truly serves equity and inclusion
As we celebrate this important day, we stand with learners, educators, families, and communities who work every day to make VET more inclusive, more human-centred, and more empowering for people with disabilities.
Together, we can build a VET ecosystem that leaves no one behind.
