Page 136 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

proper coordination among these personnel while having a clear

understanding of the SWDs’ requirements.

In the context of accessibility, enrolment rates of SWDs in higher education

institutions are used to measure rights to inclusive education in a country.
As stated above, the 2012 Population Census recorded that only 0.8% of the

total persons with disabilities are engaged in post-secondary education
programmes in Sri Lanka.

Technical barriers occur when technology cannot be adopted into another

format that can be accessed by assistive devices (Whiteneck et al., 2004).
Today, technology has become an important component of all our lives,

without which none of us would have survived the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, SWDs in developing countries encounter many
technological barriers due to financial constraints.

Much research identifies the inadequacies in facilities and trained personnel,

ineffective and inefficient use of technology, lack of funding, and lack of

support to teachers practicing inclusion as barriers to implementing
inclusion (Furuta, 2009). Parveen (2018) points out many problems such as

a lack of well-educated teachers, ill-planned curriculum, inadequate
resources, lack of good infrastructural facilities, lack of awareness, negative

attitudes, and poor policies as hurdles for extending the concept of inclusive
education. However, no studies have been conducted to identify the existing

facilities for the SWDs in universities in Sri Lanka, assess the awareness of

their needs among peers, university academic and non-academic staff, and
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