Early detection of hearing - impaired children vital

by Rohana Jayalal

The Prime Minister's Deputy Chief of Staff Rosy Senanayake stressed the importance of the early detection of hearing- impaired children and commended the National Council for accepting the challenge.

She said the National Council for the Deaf should be commended for the well-being of hearing impaired children in the country.

She was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the National Council for the Deaf (NCD) held at BMICH. NCD, Project Manageress Maud Senaratne presided.

She said the valuable service done by NCD was needed to open the doors for the hearing impaired.

No one can isolate them as they are a part of our society, she said.

Today, technology has to be developed to provide a more valuable service for the hearing impaired. She said during my tenure as the Child Development State Minister I initiated several projects to empower and improve the living standards of not only children, but also women in the country.

She said the early detection and early prevention of hearing impaired children was important and commended the NCD for accepting this challenge.

Senanayake further said during her visit to the USA she was able to obtain 50 million US dollars from the World Bank to be used for the early education of children in the country She said she is willing to provide any requirement of the NCD when considering the future prospects of hearing impaired children who are currently receiving a better education under the supervision of the NCD.

NCD Officials Lalitha Saleem, Dr. Ananda Soysa, Prof Priyani Soysa, S. Pinto, Mrs. Shirani Dissanayake and Mrs. Delo Perera were also present.