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NGO PERSPECTIVES for Full Participation and Equality

Sri Lanka

Kamala, Association of Women with Disabilities

4-point assessment scale:

 0:no or few measures have been taken,
 1:slightly implemented,
 2:fairly implemented,
 3:fully or nearly fully implemented.

Equalization of opportunities.

Assessment level 1:slightly implemented.

The government has introduced a policy of in every workforce, 3% of the employees must be people with disabilities. Although all major companies have been made aware of this the policy is not enforced and as a result it is largely ignored.

The building of separate schools for children with special needs was stopped over 20 years ago. The Ministry of Education hopes to build special units into all schools so children with special needs can be integrated into mainstream education with the help of specially trained teachers (also underway). As yet accessibility to the majority of schools is restricted to those without mobility problems. This could be rectified fairly simply in most rural schools but may be more difficult in inner-city areas.

Transport is often difficult to and from schools for children with various disabilities. So far little has been done about this.

Inclusion of Disabled Persons in the Development Process.

Assessment level 2: Fairly implemented.

A number of Income Generating Projects have been initiated and are being run by both the government and Non-Governmental Organizations. Within the next decade it is hoped that all schools are equipped and staff are properly trained to teach children with visual and hearing impairments along with non disabled children. Further progress is being made. Attempts are being made to include people with disabilities in mainstream vocational training centers.

Summary and Future Directions and Basic Data of People with Disabilities in Sri Lanka.

a1 Three significant changes in the lives of People With Disabilities in Sri Lanka over the Asia and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons are:

Vocational Training and The Introduction of Income Generating Schemes by the Department of Social Services. These measures are attempting to give people with disabilities the means to support themselves. At the moment there are 5 institutions run by the government with 750 trainees at any one time although the projects are not yet market oriented. The Vocational Training Authority are in the process of developing a network of training centers at district level and in rural areas. In keeping with the concepts of 'equal participation and full participation • and of inclusion attempts being made to include people with disabilities in mainstream vocational training centers.

A policy of inclusion and recognition has now been introduced empowering people with disabilities further and local organizations have established firm links with international partner organizations.

a2. The three most undeveloped issues concerning people with disabilities compared with people without disabilities in Sri Lanka are:

Education.

Children and young people with disabilities feel that they are discouraged from going to school. Those that do attend are often discriminated against by both teaches and their peers and as a result do not learn. Some teachers assume that people with disabilities are unable to learn so a self-fulfilling prophecy comes into operation as the children themselves come to believe that they cannot learn.
Under current guidelines, teachers' abilities are assessed on the basis of the academic results of their students. This tends to lead to reluctance to take children with special needs into their classes, as they do not tend to receive high results, pulling down the overall figures. To counteract this it has been suggested that teachers should be rewarded for teaching children with special needs regardless of their academic results.
In the past an initiative to set up separate schools for children with special needs was in operation but this was terminated two decades ago in the hopes of introducing special units into mainstream schools and integrating all children.
A training scheme has been set up for teachers to work in these units but so far most of these trained go into mainstream schools and departments.
The discrimination, accessibility and transport factors lead to a high level of students dropping out of school before completing their education.

Accessibility.

The Government of Sri Lanka has no formal policy on accessibility to buildings for those who have mobility problems. Only three buildings in Colombo have been specifically designed to be wheelchair-friendly and only one of these has a lift. This is despite the fact that out of the disabled population 13.5% have mobility problems. The group most accepted and given the most help, particularly in the workplace is the visually impaired (4.7% of the whole) although transport facilities are equally inaccessible to all people with disabilities. There are no signs indicating directions or places of interest available in Braille.

Government Policies.

In Sri Lanka there is no explicit national policy, either on disability or for the rehabilitation of those with disabilities. The public is not made aware of new policies put into operation and there is very little publication of information. Access to information is very limited to those with sight or hearing problems.

a3. Three priority measures the government should take for people with disabilities are:

Special Units for children with disabilities should be included in all schools and to work in these a greater number of teachers should be specially trained (ideally a ratio of 1:4 teachers: students). All teachers should receive training in sign language. Courses and curricula should be further updated and accessible to all.

The government should, with consultation with members of the disabled community, draw up and put into practice, a number of policies on increased access to public buildings for all people with disabilities.

Community Based Rehabilitation programmes is being developed both by the government, and a number of Non Governmental Organizations. Community responsibility is taken for these within the villages but unfortunately many Community Rehabilitation Committees fail due to inadequate attention being paid to the initial step of social mobilization.

a4. Three priority programmes of regional co-operation for people with disabilities in Sri Lank are:

Fourteen small organizations in Sri Lanka have come together to form a Federation with the principal aim of lobbying the government for their rights and the rights of all disabled people.
Community Based Rehabilitation programmes brought into action rely heavily on the participation of all community members. The leaders of the organizations are working towards increasing positive attitudes and acceptance of individuals with disabilities within their own communities, before expanding to a wider area and circle of acceptance.
An objective shared by many communities is an increase in accessibility levels to public buildings and particularly to schools. While many improvements are being made to schoolchildren with disabilities, accessibility both to the schools and once inside to bathrooms, classrooms etc is often limited. Many mobility-impaired children also find difficulties in traveling to and from their schools.

Part B  Basic Data.

B1

In Sri Lanka the Ministry of Social Services has used the data obtained from ongoing programmes and estimates that between 4 and 5% of the population as a whole have some kind of disability. The government has no official policy on disability and rehabilitation but sectional policies
attempt to keep up with international developments.

Information gathered by Dr. Padmani Mendis on the prevalence of the different types of disabilities among children (looking at 193 children) has come up with the figures shown below. As no official data is available for the prevalence among the whole population these results can be generalized to give an estimate.

Type of Disability No. of children As % of group
Mobility 26 13.5
Hearing 26 13.5
Speech 15 7.8
Sight 9 4.7
Learning 13 6.7
Fits 9 4.7
Different Behaviour 14 7.2
Other Disabilities 24 12.4
2 disabilities 40 21.0
3 disabilities 9 4.7
More than 3 disabilities. 8 4.1
Total 193 100%

The causes of the disabilities in Sri Lanka are varied but conflict related disabilities seem disproportionately high. These come from landmines, attacks on border villages, fighting or being caught in the crossfire during fighting and, in areas such as Colombo, injuries from the explosions detonated by suicide bombers.
Further causes include problems at birth or prior to birth, especially among older women or those suffering from poor health or malnutrition combined with an overstreched Health Service. Poor health and malnutrition in children can cause disabilities as they get older.
Another factor is Polio although the government has now taken steps to eliminate the problem leading to a negligible number of (occurrence) Polio victims.

Studies have given the figures of disabilities between the genders, as 2.1% of the population as a whole are females with disabilities while 2.9% are males with disabilities.
The Ministry of Social Services conducted a study into the number of children with disabilities of school going age and found that out of 6010 children in 76 Divisional Secretary Divisions over half (3015 children, 50.1% of the whole) do not go to school. The figures are even higher among pre-school children. Out of 1425 children with disabilities of pre-school age, 909 (63.7%) do not attend a pre-school.  This could be due to poor attitudes of teachers and other pupils, poor access to, and a lack of transport to and from schools. Most specially trained teachers do not go on to work in the special units of schools.

No concrete information could be found studying literacy levels but among people with disabilities they tend to be lower than the norm due to a lower level of school attendance.

Steps are being taken to increase employment figures among people with disabilities including a circular instructing Public Enterprises and Departments to recruit people with disabilities as 3% of the total recruitment. A number of vocational training centers have been started and both the government and Provincial Councils offer self employment aid to persons with disabilities and donate wheel-chairs, hearing aids and spectacles etc to help people with disabilities engage in employment.

B2

No official surveys have been done into the levels of awareness of the following issues in Sri Lanka. All statistics are estimates gathered from extensive experience of working in the disabled community.

  1. The proportion of people aware of the Asia and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons 1993-2002 is estimated as only around 10% of the disabled community, almost none of the population as a whole. The government has not publicized information about the decade to the nation and within the disabled community only the most prominent people are aware of it.

  2. A greater number of people are aware of the United Nations Declaration of Disabled Persons in 1975. The figure can be placed at around 10% of the population as a whole.

  3. Around 50% of the population know about the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981.

  4. Only 8% of the population as a whole are aware of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, 1983-1992.

Basic Information concerning People with Disabilities

A national organization of people with disabilities is the Disability Organizations Joint Front who can be contacted at
16/1 Galle Road, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Telephone (941) 730984
Email dojf@diamind.lanka.net

One future leader of People with Disabilities in Sri Lanka is Miss. Anoja Sandanayake, Treasurer at AKASA who can be found at:
Pahalagoma Road, Kongollewa, Talawa
Tel: 025  57586
E-mail  akasa7@slthet.lk

One foreign Organization doing particular co-operation programmes in the field of disability in Sri Lanka is SHIA, a Swedish organization.
SHIA
16/1 Galle Road, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Telephone 737341
Email shia@sri.lanka.net

An expert on disability policy, study and research is Dr. Padmani Mendis
17 Swarna Road, Colombo 6
Telephone 587853
Email mendis@panlanka.net