Professional Skills Competitions for People with Disabilities as a Mechanism for Career Guidance and Promotion of Employment in People with Special Needs

The article provides information about the international movement of Abilympics and its development in the Russian Federation: the purposes, tasks and means of career guidance for people with disabilities. Particular attention is paid to the issues of employment of the disabled and to the measures taken by the regional executive authorities responsible for training and employment of the population, including people with disabilities. The article analyses the results of the II National championship of professional skills among people with disabilities and the main data regarding the employment of its participants. Proposals are made on the introduction of career guidance mechanisms and the promotion of employment for people with disabilities through the change in the calculation of ratings of educational institutions, the formation of competence centers and the development of the movement, the involvement of employers in the preparation of competition tasks and evaluation materials for professional skills competitions.