Page 149 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

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

Educational Institutions (HEI) in Sri Lanka. However, there are certain

mechanisms under the institutional academic and administrative systems,
common to all state universities that could facilitate to satisfy the

requirements of SWDs in the universities despite of the absence of a national

policy for SWDs for universities. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of
those mechanisms in serving SWDs to meet their needs in universities.

2. Research Methodology

The study was a cross sectional study based on a case study method and
explanatory type in its nature using qualitative methods. The study is

confined its case location in two state universities namely the Eastern

University of Sri Lanka and the University of Ruhuna. In both universities,
the study universe is confined to students of arts, humanities, and social

sciences. Thus, the study focused on the situations of students from Faculty
of Arts and Culture at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka and Faculty of

Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Ruhuna (FHSS).
Purposively selected 16 students, 10 academics and 04 administrative

officers were included in the sample. Two types of interviews were

employed to gather qualitative information from students and staff: Key
Informant Interviews (KII) and in-depth interviews. KIIs were conducted

among the staff of both academic and administrative positions mainly
dealing with SWDs and those who have long working experience in the

university staff positions in both universities.

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