Disability, education and employment in developing countries: from charity to investment

Disability, Education and Employment in Developing Countries: From Charity to Investment is a seminal work by Kamal Lamichhane. It addresses data paucity in developing countries, where the majority of persons with disabilities (PWDs) are located. The book has 11 chapters and three sections. Section 1 consists of Chapters 1 and 2 which provide contextual information, such as frameworks for disability analysis and the global employment situation of PWDs. Section 2, consisting of Chapters 3–9, is an empirical study of Nepal (2008; 2010/2011), Bangladesh (2009–2012), Cambodia (2010–2011), the Philippines (2008) and India (2010) regarding education and labour market participation relationships. Section 3 (Chapter 11) summarizes the main research findings and related recommendations.

For new readers to disability studies, Section 1 outlines international commitments from the International Year of Disabled Persons through to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This section also conceptualizes the medical and social models of disability as well as the definition of investment. The centrality of the investment approach is positioned, rather than traditional charity-based approaches that sustain the marginalization of PWDs from equal citizenry. The psycho-social and economic benefits of employment are also emphasized in areas such as unemployment, underemployment and low wages. Perceived low productivity, perverse disincentives to working and wage disparities as barriers to labour entry are addressed. Section 1 thus establishes a good context for the rest of the book. However, the lack of discussion of education in Chapter 2 was a missed opportunity to seal the nexus of human capital and labour market position of PWDs.

The heterogeneity of disability is often missing from comparative development literature, especially in developing countries. Section 2 of the book helps to address such a gap for both new and seasoned readers in the field of disability studies, by expanding scholarship on types of impairment for four of five countries:

•	Nepal – hearing, physical and visual impairments;
•	The Philippines – hearing, physical, visual and multiple impairments;
•	Bangladesh – hearing, physical, visual, cognitive, difficulty in self-care and difficulty in communication problems, dual and multiple impairments; and
•	Cambodia – physical impairment.

Although the extent of the comparability of impairment types contained is unclear,¹ the impairment variable enriches the empirical findings presented in Chapters 3–9.

The author skilfully employs primarily quantitative survey data² to discuss education and labour market outcomes of PWDs, and barriers that militate against participation. The determinants of employability and occupational choices for PWDs compared with persons without disabilities are examined in Cambodia and Bangladesh.³ Further, the importance of human capital as measured by educational outcomes for PWDs is underscored. Disability was shown to have negative correlation on school participation and education completion in India. Limited access to quality education was likewise cited as a major development gap in the other four countries. The importance of education in maximizing opportunities for labour market participation in terms of employability and higher ranked occupations for PWDs was evident in Nepal, the Philippines, Cambodia and Bangladesh. Important gender insights emerged from this analysis. Being female negatively correlates with the probability of school participation, educational attainment and dropout rate in India. Correspondingly, being female negatively impacts employability and occupational options in the Philippines, Cambodia and Bangladesh.⁴ Work/job status and occupational rank⁵ are also impacted by other factors such as type of impairment (Nepal, the Philippines and Cambodia), severity of impairment (Bangladesh) and type of education (special versus mainstream in the Philippines).⁶ Other relationships explored include age (Cambodia and Bangladesh); urban/rural location and religion (India); remittance receipt and marital status (Bangladesh); the impact of parental attitudes (Nepal); and impact of parents’ education on children’s chances of completing school (India).

Disability, Education and Employment in Developing Countries highlights economic, social, attitudinal and physical barriers experienced by PWDs. The case of Nepal shows that the weight of barriers may also vary by types of impairment.⁷ Despite barriers faced, gains in overall job satisfaction as well as human capital, wage and poverty reduction (consumption) returns from educational investment are presented. Such data support the removal of structural barriers that deny fulsome participation given the inextricable link between disability, poverty and inequality.⁸ Section 3 of the book therefore concludes with recommending the importance of non-discriminatory investment in PWDs given the interconnectedness of disability as a development issue; awareness-raising in families, communities and governments; and interdisciplinary research in order to improve poverty and dependence traps.

The primary reliance on quantitative analysis, as well as the lack of comparative information for impairment types, and variables that measure occupational classifications; and labour force participation are two shortcomings of this text. Lamichhane nonetheless offers path-breaking foundations for future research, and critical practical information for the development of inclusive legislation, policies and programmes in developing countries. The book is therefore useful for international development practitioners, policy-makers, programme implementers, academia, students, PWDs and disability advocates.

Annicia Gayle-Geddes
Policy Development, Monitoring and Evaluation Practitioner, Kingston, Jamaica
[email protected]
© 2016 Annicia Gayle-Geddes
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2016.1219510

Notes

1. Definitions are not provided for impairment types for the four countries. Information on impairment for India was absent.

2. The only exception was India, which included qualitative data.

3. Such analysis was not done for Nepal, the Philippines and India.

4. This was not discussed for Nepal.

5. Work/job status includes full-time, part-time, self-employed and unemployed in Nepal; while type of job includes white collar, blue collar and unemployed (distilled from discreet occupations like teachers and clerks). The Philippines used similar classifications for work/job status and type of job as done for Nepal. Cambodia’s work/job status (called ‘employment’) includes employed and unemployed, while classifications for type of job is similar to that used for Nepal and Philippines. Work/job status (called ‘employment status’) for Bangladesh includes working and not working; and type of job (called ‘job status’) includes day labour, self-employed and employee.

6. The type of education (special, integrated and mainstream) accessed by impairment types in Nepal and related imperatives for inclusive education were discussed.

7. The analysis was enriched by qualitative interviews with PWDs as well as surveys of special resource teachers (2006) and other teachers (2011) of visually impaired students in integrated institutions in Nepal.

8. Wage returns, poverty and inequality were studied in Nepal only.