The importance of vocational rehabilitation in the total rehabilitation of persons with disabilities need not be stressed. Vocational rehabilitation provides an opportunity for an individual to become self sustaining and so gain self respect and independence. In a rural situation, sometimes people with minor disabilities are rehabilitated in various rural occupations, without any serious attempt. But persons with severe disabilities from an early age tend to be neglected and often meet with premature death. Generally, vocational rehabilitation involves vocational training, although it is not absolutely essential.
Vocational training can be 'non-formal' or 'formal'.
As to whether vocational training is essential for rehabilitation or not, the situation may vary. Very often, for vocational rehabilitation, vocational training becomes necessary and for appropriate vocational training, basic education can be very useful. For many non-disabled people, the occupations they are involved in are not based on the vocational training that they had received. There are also cases where high levels of training has not led to employment in the area of training. If this is the case for non-disabled people, for persons with disabilities, the situation can be the same except that usually a lot more is demanded of persons with disabilities, than in the case of some one who is not disabled.