A vision to be normal with unseeing eyes
The School for the Blind in Ratmalana recently celebrated its 107th Founder’s Day Anniversary with a hopeful eye towards further improvement of the school’s facilities.
The school provides the children from Nursery up to GCE Ordinary Level, with free board and lodging, healthcare and recreational facilities, together with training in several vocations, as many of these children come from modest backgrounds, with quite a number from impoverished homes. .
As in most societies, in Sri-Lanka, too, many years ago, children who were either severely or moderately vision impaired were neglected and marginalized, with very little opportunity in gaining any education to fit into society.
And, it was in such a context, that the Ceylon School for the Deaf and the Blind was established in 1912, with just two students, which has risen to a current accommodation of approximately 400 students, with nearly 90% in house residents.
“We have accommodation for 150 children in our school. Most of them are completely blind with some suffering from multiple disorders, while there are others who are hyperactive or with autistic disorders. Our main goal is, while giving them a sound education, to find them jobs once they leave school,” said the Principal Mrs Samanthika Jayasuriya.
“Some successfully complete their ‘O’ level or ‘A ‘level exams and are gainfully employed in many fields, yet, for others who fail these exams, we must pave the way for them, too, to be gainfully employed, as we do not want to see them becoming beggars or be poverty stricken in society,” she said.
“ Hence, we need to create new job avenues. Blind children are blessed with good voices, so we must make use of such talents and make way for job avenues in voice related professions such as announcers, dubbing/telecom officers, thereby training them towards gainful employment, through which, I believe, we can overcome this crisis,” she added.
Ms Jayasuriya said they will soon start a Media Unit to train students for the Media profession
“Gradually, my teachers will work towards initiating a small Media Unit, for which we need to find the resources in training the children, as well as finding the necessary equipment, which we hope to initiate upon with whatever sources available,” she added
“The other aspect is most of these children are refusing to use white canes. Whereas, it is a must, as you cannot always depend on others to get about. We should start this with children from Grades 1, 2 and 3, where each and every child will be trained on how to use a white cane properly. If we train these children on how to use a white cane from the initial stages itself, then they will not refuse it later. At present there are sophisticated white canes available with helpful devices, which generate a sound on contact with something. This is ideal and very beneficial for these children nowadays. We hope to seek assistance from generous donors to donate these canes,” Mrs Jayasuriya further elaborated.
- Nilanthi Wickramasinghe