The Hon. Sugath Wasantha de Silva

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, as the Hon. Prime Minister noted, I too recall with deep sorrow the passing of Dr. Janaki Jayawardena. I was among the first cohort to learn American History from her when she first joined the University of Colombo as a Lecturer, and as a student I mourn her demise. When I heard of her death, what came to my mind was that life is like dew on a blade of grass. C.W.W. Kannangara, the father of free education, lost his seat in the election held after the Free Education Bill was passed. Though he went home, we are children of the free education he created. Likewise, the JVP for years campaigned, marched, camped and fought to protect free education. Therefore, regarding free education, we have a great right and great responsibility. With that respect, I thank you for the chance to speak during this year’s Committee Stage of the Budget, and I will now turn to the subject.

¶ 02 We have known for many years that education reform is necessary. Special education must be deeply integrated into those reforms. From pre-school to A/L, university and vocational training, special education has a vital role and requires greater space. Therefore, at this reform moment, we wish to propose to the Hon. Prime Minister that those making decisions must include groups with expertise in special education. Further, special education is implemented at ground level by special education teachers. At present, Sri Lanka has about four hundred such teachers. However, only fifteen have been admitted to faculties for the special education course. I do not know which officials decided this, or why such short-sighted decisions were taken. If this continues, special education will collapse. When special education collapses, it is the education of children with disabilities that collapses. I trust education officials will listen now. Hon. State Minister of Education, please provide an answer as to who limited admissions to fifteen and why.

¶ 03 There is also a cadre of Special Education Project Officers functioning professionally in that field. In 2006, there was a Cabinet decision on their salaries and status. Education officials did not implement it and, to use our political parlance, they “dragged their feet” and did them an injustice. Some of those officers have since passed away; some have retired; and some still serve. As a Government, we are obliged to ensure justice for them.

¶ 04 We also propose this: Sri Lanka has accepted policies in international education declarations including the Salamanca Statement. We say the community with disabilities must receive inclusive education. If inclusive education is to be realized, several things must align. First, the classroom must be accessible—physically and, on the other hand, technologically. For a child with visual impairment, assistive technology that minimizes the impairment must be in the classroom. For a child with a physical disability, mobility access must be there. For deaf children, sign language or lip-reading/speech-reading communication must be in the classroom. If these are absent, inclusive education fails—fails. As a Government and as a Ministry we are duty-bound to empower the community with disabilities within an inclusive society. Ensuring barrier-free social and educational life is our Government’s responsibility. We trust the Hon. Prime Minister, as Minister of Education, will undoubtedly fulfill this social duty.

¶ 05 Another issue is exam paper setting. What is expected from a paper? To measure the student’s competence. If a sighted child is asked to mark a place on a map, he can use his sight to do so; what is being tested is his understanding of that place. But a visually impaired child cannot write or mark a paper map due to technological limitations. In some countries, alternatives enable visually impaired candidates to do map-based tasks. In Sri Lanka, we cannot. Therefore, to measure the same competence, a suitable alternative question must be given. Then both students—the visually impaired and the sighted—will be marked for the same underlying competence, reflected in their results. Any teacher or former teacher among us knows this is clear. In this way, education must provide equal and fair opportunities.

¶ 06 As the Hon. State Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe also knows, there is a cadre of visually impaired teachers serving in education. They secured posts by sitting competitive exams and earning degrees. These competitive exams are challenging and, as structured, often stand opposed to disability. As a result, in the Eastern and Central Provinces, visually impaired teacher candidates who sat exams have been denied appointments. This must not happen. Those degree-holding teacher candidates with disabilities must be given appointments through a fair, disability-sensitive process.

¶ 07 On higher education, there are almost no facilities for students with disabilities in universities, as MP Kaushalya Ariyarathna stressed. At University of Colombo when we studied, there wasn’t a single Braille dot. This cannot continue. Justice must be done for persons with disabilities in education; otherwise, they are denied life itself. We proposed to the University Grants Commission to establish a supportive unit—a center—for persons with disabilities: with officers for Braille transcription needs, assistive technology, sign language, and for counselling, welfare and accessibility. We proposed such a unit in every university. The then UGC Chair accepted it, but the proposal was discarded. We hope that a new Government and the Ministry of Education through new reforms will move forward to realize the aspirations of university students with disabilities. As a party that has protected the legacy of free education, we will through this Appropriation Bill for the next eight months offer maximum proposals to ensure justice and fairness for persons with disabilities in education. That truly gladdens us.

¶ 08 Thank you, Hon. Chairman.