24 June 2016 12:00 am
From left: Nushara Allang, Shehan Senanayake, SRI Director Mark Bucknall, CIMA Sri Lanka Board Chairman Manjula De Silva, CIMASS President Abdul Qadeer and Amjad Rahim
The Sustainability Committee of the CIMA Students’ Society (CIMASS) has undertaken a sustainability initiative titled Education Beyond Ability (EBA) under the theme ‘Wield your potential to meet your passion’.
EBA’s main aim is to spread awareness regarding individuals who have learning difficulties and to empower such students by facilitating them with educational opportunities.
The World Report on Disability estimates one billion people in the world are living with disabilities, of which 93 million children aged 0-14 years’ experience moderate or severe disabilities while 13 million children experience severe disabilities. A mere 10 percent of all handicapped children begin school yet, many drop out due to unpleasant experiences and only 5 percent of children with disabilities worldwide complete their primary education.
Reliable, updated special needs data are under reported in many countries, including Sri Lanka, and the absence of this information is one of the most significant factors contributing towards the invisible status which in turn excludes these children from education.
CIMASS has partnered with Schools Relief Initiative (SRI), to combine their collective resources and information and initiated a process of channelling it towards bringing their collective plans into fruition. In light of this, CIMASS had a successful discussion with SRI Directors Mark Bucknall, Jackie Horne and CIMA Sri Lanka Governance Board Chairman Manjula De Silva. CIMASS decided to launch EBA in collaboration with SRI to help renovate a Special Needs Centre in a school in the vicinity of Hambantota, called Dehigahalanda, which would provide students who are differently-abled with the environment and facilities necessary to receive the education they deserve. This will be the stepping stone towards many more projects under this theme which will be built upon the strong relationships that CIMA has with the organisations in Sri Lanka and the EBA Community that believe in addressing and eradicating this serious issue.
EBA will also be the cause aligned to this year’s Sports Day organised by CIMASS and subsequent events. For more information regarding EBA, please contact Amjad Rahim on 0779978813 or Melissa Fernando on 0775530016.