I.C.T. TRAINING FOR VISION IMPAIRED PERSONS IN THE EAST OF SRI LANKA

For more than three decades the civil war in Sri Lanka left behind thousands of persons with disabilities. East of Sri Lanka was also affected by this war. There are many rehabilitation programmes conducted by various organisations working for persons with disabilities for these people. Due to lack of education level, financial difficulties and lack of awareness among persons with disabilities they have a charity base approach. Long time ago it was the charity based approach which was adopted. Then it developed into medical based model, social based model and now it is the rights based model. Sometimes the attitudes among them are that they think that the society should provide them with all the necessities. It is very important to develop their job seeking skills. Capacity development to suit the job market is the most important. For a vision impaired person to work in a company it is very important to develop their skill which would assist them to work alongside with sighted persons. This is why I.T. skills play a major role. Handicap International and CAMID (Centre on Accessibility Monitoring and Information on Disability) organized a training for vision impaired persons at the CAMID Training Centre in Batticaloa. Ms. Manique Gunaratne conducted the training on I.T. skills for these vision impaired persons who have become blind due to the war. The trainees who were trained at this programme in May 2014 really appreciated knowledge given to them because in rural areas it is very difficult improve their knowledge on technology. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon I.C.T. Training Centre has expanded their services for persons with disabilities to all districts in Sri Lanka.

 

By Manique Gunaratne (Honoured “Desha Bandu”)

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Author: Manique