Background:
According to a joint study carried out by UNICEF and the Ministry of Health of Armenia, there are more than 8000 registered children with special educational needs in Armenia. Consequently, after secondary school, many young people with learning difficulties become victims of social passivity and unemployment even though with proper educational opportunities they could develop some technical skills vital for future employment. As many reasons prevent these young people from studying at higher education institutions, the most reasonable solution remains the vocational education which, for this particular group of people, has several advantages over the traditional higher education:

• As opposed to academic classes at higher education institutions  it provides skill-based education that is easier to learn for children with Special Educational Needs.
• It is more financially affordable for families with low and medium-income.
• It provides better employment opportunities for graduates.

Currently, there are only two special educational and one inclusive vocational school in Armenia that enrol children with special educational needs/learning difficulties. However these schools lack capacity, methodology, effective curricula and resources to support the youth in developing job skills for further employment.

Though a developing country, during recent years Armenia has demonstrated a good record in economic growth that results in an increased demand for labour force. To fill this gap and prevent the target group of the program of becoming a burden to their families and communities this program will compliment the enrolment of youth with Special Educational Needs in the labour market by training specialists in two target areas: gardening and carpet weaving.  It will act as a pilot for further improvements in the provision of vocational education to young people with special needs in the country.

Action:
Major actions planned within the program include:
• Develop and test a flexible vocational education methodology that corresponds the international standards.
• Increase the human and technical capacities of the two target institutions to provide effective vocational training in the chosen subject areas.
• Conduct test courses on gardening and carpet weaving for the first group of students.
• Create positive attitude of the public in general and the potential employers in particular towards the capacities of youth with special needs.
• Increase the legal awareness of young people with special needs and their families to advocate for their rights.
• Propose changes to the current legislation to support the vocational education and further employment of youth with special needs.