SILOAN CENTRE FOR THE BLIND IN KOREA DONATES ASSISTIVE DEVICES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

 

Siloan Centre for the Blind in Korea donated assistive devices for persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka. The function was organized by the Disability Organisations’ Joint Front at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in January 2017. Korean representatives from Siloan Centre for the Blind, Korean Embasidor, representatives from Ministry of Social Services, persons with disabilities and the benificiaries were present at the ocation. 50 wheel chairs, 50 tricycles, 200 elbow crutches, 100 Luxzoom software for low vision persons, computers for graphic designing and assistance for horticulture were among the donations made. Ms. Manique Gunaratne of The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon Network on Disability received few Luxzoom software for the ICT Training Centre.

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

1 Audience.

2 Audience.

 

Manique Gunaratne

Mobile – 0094779571918

 

The Sri Lanka Chapter of the Internet Society together with The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon Network on Disability implemented “Beyond the Reach” project to train vision impaired persons on “Surfing the internet”.
This project is designed to make life easy for visually impaired people in Sri Lanka. This concept was borne while serving the soldiers with disabilities in Sri Lanka Army. As per the statistics available, over twenty million population nearly 200,000+ believed to be blind due to various reasons.(source news.lk) As per the internet for all concept in ISOC. The Internet Society is planning to make their life easy by giving them the access to information .(Websites, Kiosaks). Training sessions will be plan to make them aware of techniques in how to use internet for their development. There are two main target groups such as general public and soldiers. Considering the travelling difficulties of selected group ISOC will create a mobile lab and will deliver the training by sending trainers to the different geographical locations. Most of the websites in Sri Lanka does not include the techniques and support for accessibility of vision impaired people. Therefore, the web developers will be trained by giving them the training to improve accessibility of visually impaired people. On the other hand by installing kiosaks with supporting tools for visually impaired in government institutions such as public libraries and vidiatha centers will enable to access them government information websites easily. For example if some one want to get birth certificate by accessing government web site where it does not contain support for visually impaired , kiosak created by this projects will cater for their needs without depending on others and stand on their feet.
We want them to see the world through the eyes of internet and stand on their feet.
The Beyond the Reach inauguration was held at the EFC auditorium in January 2017. Ms. Sagarika Wickramasekara – President Internet Society, Mr. Kanishka Weerasinghe – Director General, Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, and Ms. Manique Gunaratne – Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, and Mr. Minuwan Deshapriya – Assistant Secretary of Internet Society spoke at the inauguration. The Training was conducted by Ms. Manique Gunaratne At the newly up-graded EFC ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities. A group of vision impaired persons together with few soldiers with physical disabilities from Anuradhapura Senapura Camp were trained at this residential training programme. The main objective of this training was to reach marginalized groups which the society thinks not reachable and make them empowered to gather information to develop their skills and knowledge. Certificates were awarded at the end of the 5 day training. Ms. Sagarika Wickramasekara, Mr. Kanishka Weerasinghe, Ms. Manique Gunaratne, Mr. Maheeswara Kirindigoda – Secretary, Internet Society, Ms. Deepashika Gunasekara from Plan Sri Lanka, Mr. Krishantha Pathirana from Maharaja TV and beneficiaries from the Sri Lanka Army and from the civil society spoke at the closing ceremony. The first “Beyond the Reach” programme was done in Uva Province.

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:
1 Group photograph at the inauguration

2 Head table at the inauguration.

3 Mr. Kanishka Weerasinghe making a speech.

4 Lighting of the oil lamp.

5 Participants.

6 Ms. Sagarika Wickramasekara making a speech.
7 Training on day 1.
8 Training on day 2.
9 Training on day 3.
10 Training on day 4.
11 Training on day 5.
12 Audience at the closing ceremony.
13 ms. Deepashika Gunasekara making a speech at the closing ceremony.
14 Group photograph at the closing ceremony.
15 Head table at the closing ceremony.
16 Ms. Isuri Ayeshmi speaking as a participant at the closing ceremony.
17 Mr. Kanishka Weerasinghe making speech at the closing ceremony.
18 Mr. Krishantha Pathirana speaking at the closing cerramony.
19 Mr. Mahees Kirindigoda speaking at the closing ceremony.
20 Ms. Manique Gunaratne speaking at the closing ceremony.
21 Participants receiving certificates.
22 Participants.
23 Mr. Chaminda Ratnayake from the Sri Lanka Army speaking at the closing ceremony.
24 Ms. Sagarika Wickramasekara speaking at the closing ceremony.

Manique Gunaratne
Fax – 0094112867946

It is the time of the year when many look for calendars for the newly dawned year, either for personal use or as a gift. Visually impaired and low-vision people can now find a readable calendar of their own. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon’s (EFC) ICT Training Centre offers free pocket Braille and large print calendars every year. The first Braille and large print calendar for 2017 was handed over to the Director General, EFC, Mr. Kanishka Weerasinghe by Ms. Manique Gunaratne.

“It is very important for vision impaired persons to expand their Braille-reading skills. The only method to evaluate the literacy rate of vision impaired persons is Braille.  “Literacy is so important. There are talking devices, but there is nothing quite like the written word. It is so important for blind children and adults to learn to read, just as it is important for sighted people to read. EFC Braille calendars are an absolute must for any blind adult or child on the go. They are fast, easy to use, efficient and a real necessity today.

The EFC ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities removes barriers, creates solutions and expands possibilities, so that the visually-impaired can achieve their full potential.

The Braille calendars are distributed free among EFC ICT trainees and other vision impaired persons in all corners of the country. EFC ICT Training Centre provides many services for persons with disabilities. Developing technologies and ICT skills are the key roles of the ICT Training Centre. Todate it has trained about 180 persons with disabilities on ICT skills. There are several courses conducted at this training centre. Each year the training centre is upgraded with equipment and with modern courses to suit the contemporary job market. The trainees are awarded well recognized certificates and the courses conducted are recognized by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission where the certificates carry the TVEC registration number.

The ICT courses are not limited to Colombo. The training centre extended its services to the North in 2011. Library facilities with accessible formats are available at this Centre which caters to all persons in the disability field. Special assistive devices for persons with disabilities make this Centre more popular among persons with disabilities. These assistive devices are unique and they are available only at EFC.

The ICT training is now a Cisco academy. It also conducts international courses in collaboration with Cisco, Curtin University of Technology Australia and Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT).

The Braille printing unit of the  ICT Training Centre is doing huge task in printing Braille documents. If anyone wishes to print Braille documents please contact Ms. Manique Gunaratne.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

Manique handing over the first Braille calendar to Mr. Kanishka Weerasinghe.

 

Manique Gunaratne

CISCO International Trainer for I T E (Information Technology Essentials)

 

The Tertiary & Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) supported The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon to upgrade the ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities. The new ICT Training Centre and the Disability Resource Centre is equipped with modern technology specially designed for persons with disabilities with accessibility. The TEVC assisted EFC ICT Training Centre with modern devices to train persons with diverse disabilities. The signing of the agreement was held at the TVEC Office at “Nipunatha Piyasa” in December 2016. Ms. Manique Gunaratne of The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon Network on Disability received the grant from the Deputy Director General of TVEC, Mr. P.C.P Jayathilake.

 

Picture description for vision impaired persons:

Manique receiving the grant for EFC from the Deputy Director General, Mr. P.C.P. Jayathilake of TVEC.

 

Manique Gunaratne

Resource Person to Train, Promote & Develop Information & Communication Technology for Persons with Disabilities

 

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre trains persons with diverse disabilities on ICT skills in all corners of Sri Lanka. Under the guidance of Manique Gunaratne up to date 91 persons with diverse disabilities have successfully completed the course of study in Microsoft Word.

 

Picture description for vision impaired persons:

Group photograph of Manique Gunaratne, Supun Charuka, Aravinda Chandrasiri, Kasun Lakpriya (Edirisinghe Trust Investment), Sandun Jayaratne (Massage therapist), Aruna Premachandra, Anusha Dissanayake (Student, University of Peradeniya) and Pradeep Perera (Massage Therapist).

 

Manique Gunaratne

Officer in Charge of ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities at The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon

 

Cisco Networking Academy Conference and awards night Sri Lanka 2016 was held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) Metro Campus in November 2016. The conference focused on Cisco Networking Academy Program updates and much more. New Cisco Networking Academy offering and how to adopt, Meeting industry expertise in Sri Lanka, Technical Breakout Sessions lead by regional Cisco team and  Curriculum hot topics were the key areas of the conference.  The Awards evening with dinner was held at Colombo Hilton. Ms. Manique Gunaratne of The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon Cisco Academy represented the conference.

 

Picture description for vision impaired persons:

1 Cisco trainers.

2 At the conference.

3 Award night at Hilton Colombo.

4 Awards night at Hilton with Kalhari

 

Manique Gunaratne

Member – Asia Pacific Women with Disability United

 

The Sri Lanka Chapter of the Internet Society implemented “Beyond the Reach” project to train vision impaired persons on “Surfing the internet”. The Training was conducted by Ms. Manique Gunaratne of The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities. A group of vision impaired persons together with few sighted persons from Uva Province were trained at this residential training programme held at the Uva Management Development Centre in Badulla. The programme was inaugurated by the Governor of the Uva Province, Mr. N.P. Jayasinghe. Representatives for the Governor’s Office, University of Uva, Department of Social Services, Internet Society and media were present at the inauguration. President, Ms. Sagarika Wickramasekara, Secretary, Mr. Maheeswara Kirindigoda, Assistant Secretary, Mr. Minuwan Deshapriya and Exco Member, Imesha Deshapriya from the Internet Society did a splendid task to make “Beyond the Reach” a real success.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

1 Day 1 ISOC meeting.

2 Day 1 introduction of the participants.

3 Day 1 training session.

4 Day 2 meeting with members from SLIIT and from India.

5 Day 2 training.

6 Day 3 participants with the Trainer.

7 Day 3 group photograph with the Governer.

8 Day 3 inaguration head table.

9 Day 3 speech by Manique.

10 Day 3 tea with the invitees.

11 Day 3 lighting of the oil lamp.

12 Day 3 national anthem.

13 Day 3 training.

14 Day 4 training.

15 Day 5 special appreciation to Manique by ISOC.

16 Day 5 group photograph with the certificates.

17 Day 5 closing remarks by Manique.

18 Day 5 handing over the certificates by Manique.

19 Day 5 participants with Manique.

20 Day 5 training.

 

Manique Gunaratne

Viber: 0094779571918

 

The World University Services of Canada (WUSC) under the Asset (Advancing special skills for economic transformation) Project organized “The National ICT Networking Session” at the National Chamber of Commerce in September 2016. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities is also a partner of the Asset Project to work with WUSC in relation to ICT for persons with disabilities. Ms. Manique Gunaratne participated at this event to be a part of this important networking and B2B meeting. The event brought together those involved in the ICT sector from Mannar, Puttalam, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Matara and Hambantota as well as in Colombo.

This event was supported by ICT Skills Sector Council, ICTA, FITIS, SLASSCOM & University of Colombo School of Computing.

The Main Objectives of this Seminar / B2B meeting was to:

Connect the ICT related SMEs from the districts with Colombo &  Kandy based ICT companies for business ventures and partnerships.

Explore ways to create more employment opportunities for youth in the ICT sectors in the districts.

To create regional and national level ICT networks and partnerships.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

Manique at the conference.

Manique Gunaratne

Face Book – Manique Gunaratne

 

In April 2013 The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities started an I.C.T. training course with the Curtin University of technology in Australia and the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (S L I I T). It is an online course. Since 2009 to date the centre has trained many persons with diverse disabilities in I.C.t. skills. EFC selected 10 very good trainees to do the above course. It is named Information Technology Essentials (I.T.E.). Mr. Anuradha Jayakody a senior Lecturer from S L I I T does the lecturing at the I.C.t. Training Centre at the employers’ Federation of Ceylon.

 

Picture description for vision impaired persons:

Group photograph of the Cisco team.

 

Manique Gunaratne

Mobile – 0094779571918

 

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon awarded two scholarships for two vision impaired university students in September 2016. Mr. S. Prathepan from University of Jaffna and Ms. Rasika Ratnayake from University of Peradeniya were selected for this scholarship. These two vision  impaired persons are following the ICT training at The Employers’ Federation of  Ceylon, ICT Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities under the leadership  of Ms. Manique Gunaratne. The scholarships were sponsored by CIC Educational & Charitable Trust. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon wishes them all the success for their studies.

 

Picture descriptions for vision impaired persons:

1 Prathepan

2 Rasika

 

Manique Gunaratne

CISCO International Trainer for I T E (Information Technology Essentials)