25% students in NE need special education –Provincial Ministry

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 March 2003, 00:05 GMT]
About twenty percent of students in the North-East province have been identified as children with special needs as majority of them have been mentally and physically affected by the twenty-year-old war, and about seventy five percent of these students have not received any specialized medical attention, education officials said at a two-day workshop on non-formal education and special education held in Trincomalee Sunday and Monday at the management centre of the North East Provincial Education Ministry.

Officials involved in non-formal and special education in the twenty-four education zones in the North-East province participated in the workshop organized by the Provincial Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Sports.

NE Provincial Secretary for Education, Mr.R.Thiagalingam, in his inaugural address said that about forty five thousand children are not attending schools in the province. A considerable number of students leave schools midway as they are unable to continue their studies due to poverty and other social factors. Twenty percent of students find it difficult to compete with others in classes as they are severely affected by the war. These children need special education, he said.

Provincial Director of Education, Mr.S.Mahalingam, said shortage of resource personnel and necessary equipments hamper the special education for handicapped students in the war torn province. Students in difficult areas in the North-East are deprived of the benefits of free education, which are enjoyed by their counterparts in other areas, Mr. Mahalingam said.