We are continuing our funding of a project in Sri Lanka that provides education for children with special education needs.
According to UNICEF, 1.1 million children in Sri Lanka need education support. The government aims to include children with special needs in mainstream education but progress is affected by a lack of resources. So we are working in partnership with the Sanmarga Trust to support Social Economical and Environmental Developers (SEED) in the Vavuniya district.
Empowerment campus
This non-governmental organisation has been working with the education authority to set up 35 Special Education Units (SEUs) in mainstream schools and help train teachers. SEED also runs an Empowerment Campus that offers education and development to children who are unable to join SEUs and provides awareness programmes for parents so they can support their children’s education at home.
Significant step
So far, SEED has trained more than 400 teachers in the target schools, including teachers in 40 pre-schools. Parents of children with special needs are encouraged to enrol their children in these schools which have good facilities and trained teachers. The response so far has been very encouraging, with three to five children with special needs joining each pre-school.
Baghi Baghirathan from SEED says the project “will be a significant step forward for children with special needs in the district, and it will become a sustainable model that can be replicated in other districts.”
