Vocational training for disabled children

At school, on the roads or in various public places, you may have come across many disabled children. You may have relations who have been disabled due to a variety of reasons, or you yourself may have some kind of disability. Just because one is healthy or physically sound now, that doesn't mean they should insult the disabled. Disability could happen to anybody at any time; all the more reason for you to be kind and compassionate to victims.

However, being disabled doesn't mean being unable. Such people are abled in different ways. They may be able to perform certain tasks even better than 'normal' people.

There's no reason to ignore these differently-abled people either. With the right education and training, they can also contribute something to society, and not be burdens.

It is with this idea that the Ministry of Social Services and Social Welfare initiated a Vocational Training Institute for disabled children. It is located at Seeduwa and provides differently-abled children with vocational training in the fields of carpentry, air-conditioning, refrigeration, leather products manufacturing and computer studies.

The first such course was carried out recently, and those who successfully completed it were awarded certificates and tool kits, each worth about Rs. 10,000.

A computer training facility equipped with the latest technology was added to the centre on the same occasion. The project had been launched after understanding the necessity to impart knowledge and vocational training to the disabled.

It is aimed at making the disabled equal stake holders in the development process of our country and getting their full contribution to society.

Walawe project nearing completion

Construction work of the Walawe Left Bank Irrigation Upgrading and Extension Project, which is being carried out in the Hambantota district, is expected to be completed before the end of this year.

Almost 90 per cent of the project work is already complete.

The project is funded by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation.

The construction work of this project was started by the government five years ago.

Three stages of the project have already been completed, while the fourth stage is expected to be completed within the next few months.

All infrastructure under the project such as roads, schools, government offices, hospitals, healthcare centres and public facilities have already been completed.

The project comprises a 19 km long main canal constructed from Suriyawewa to Hambantota, 24 km of main branch canals, 103 km of tributary canals, 58 km of drainage canals, 358 km of field canals and 69 small tanks.

Farmer families numbering 5,800 and non-farming families numbering 3,150 will benefit from this project. The government will provide them land within the area to settle, to construct their houses and start cultivation.

The cultivation of field crops other than paddy, such as, banana, papaw, pineapple and grapes will be promoted in the area by the Mahaweli Authority.

School libraries to get stocked up

Do you like your school library? Do you enjoy spending time there, or do you feel it lacks good reading material? Some of our local schools have well-stocked libraries, but this cannot be said for all.

The government now plans to improve school libraries by enabling them to buy more books.

Accordingly, cheques worth Rs. 100,000 each will be issued to all national and Navodya schools, to purchase books for their libraries. Rs. 30 million has been allocated by the Ministry for this programme, which will cover all 324 national schools and 250 Navodya schools in the country.

The first of these cheques were handed over to principals of several national and Navodya schools by Education Minister Susil Premajayantha at the Ministry auditorium in Colombo, recently. Since many exhibitions are held this month, the National Literacy Month, the Ministry has made arrangements to enable school authorities to buy books from these exhibitions.

The decision on which books to purchase will be made by a team of 10, comprising the principal, librarian, two students and teachers of the school.

The principals of these schools are expected to make a list of books needed by their libraries, in keeping with ministry recommendations and categorisation.

All book catalogues will need the approval of Zonal Education Offices. In order to get the cheques, principals will have to submit their book catalogues along with the approval of the Zonal Education Offices to the Ministry of Education.

Cheques for the purchase of books are issued under the Ministry's School Libraries Development Programme.

Protect ozone layer, save life on Earth

Ozone, the ozone layer, CFC gases...these are words that all of you may have heard often, and may be familiar with.

But, for those of you who don't know, ozone (O3) is a gas, of which relatively high concentrations are formed as a layer above the Earth.

Known as the zonosphere, this region is situated about 15-30 kilometres from the surface of the Earth.

This thin shield of gas protects all life on Earth from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays and other radiation from space, letting just enough for the human body to make Vitamin D. Full radiation can destroy human tissue and eliminate various animal species.

UV rays can cause skin cancers and cataracts and pose other health risks. Therefore, ozone helps preserve life on the planet.

Substances that have contributed to the depletion of this layer include industrial chemicals such as chloro-floro carbons (CFC).

These are present in older refrigeration systems and green house gases. Alternatives to CFCs are now used, but they are relatively expensive.

Although the threat of ozone depletion was identified in the seventies, the full scale of the problem came to light only when a large hole, the size of North America, was discovered in the ozone layer above Antarctica in 1985. Another was later discovered above the Arctic region. The hole currently visible above Argentina and Chile is over 25 million square kilometres in size, and is expected to reach its maximum size this month.

But, why are we talking about the ozone layer now? Because, we are observing the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16. The theme for this year is 'Protect the Ozone Layer, Save Life on Earth'.

The Day was declared by the UN General Assembly on December 19, 1994, to commemorate the date of signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Countries were encouraged to devote the day to promote activities which contributed to this objective. Significant action has been taken over the years, to reduce ozone depleting substances in the environment. According to the Montreal Protocol, developing countries agreed to reduce CFC sources by 50 per cent by 2005, and see their total elimination by 2010. These nations have been helped to achieve standards in reducing production and consumption of ozone depleting substances.

More than 1.5 million tonnes of such substances have now been permanently eliminated. CFC levels have been brought down significantly, but the full recovery of the ozone layer is expected to take another 50-100 years.