Call for compulsory education for disabled children

by Nilma DOLE

We should turn our disabilities into abilities because those who have been affected by the conflict can be trained and educated to be worthy to society, said the President of the Organisation for the Rehabilitation of the Handicapped (ROHAN), Victor Subramaniam. "We should make it compulsory for disabled people to have the basic right of education by law," he said.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer, Subramaniam said the government should implement a legislation that makes it compulsory for parents of disabled children to send them to schools because it will be one of greatest assets after peace.

The President of ROHAN, who lost his sight due to an acid attack, he made these comments at an International Day of Peace event held at the United Nations office in Colombo on Friday. The theme for this year is 'Peace, Youth and Development'.

The United Nations in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation and the Social Policy Analysis Research Centre of the University of Colombo conducted the National Youth Survey recently.

The survey revealed that of the youth (those in the age group of 15 to 20 years), surveyed 91.4 percent had said that they wanted to have friendships with people from other ethnicities, but they never have the opportunities.

Only 61 percent said that such opportunities exist and 38.4 percent said that they have never got a chance to mingle with other ethnicities, but they wanted to break these barriers.