Page 154 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

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

accessible seating arrangements. Even in old buildings, it is observable that

renovations were made to incorporate accessible facilities for the disabled
persons.

However, the study found that the infrastructure facilities of the University
of Ruhuna are different to that of the Eastern University. The university of

Ruhuna is situated in a hilly terrain and most of the buildings of the faculty
of H&SS are not accessible to the physically disabled students. Some

especial facilities such as the library, the canteens and lecture halls were not

constructed conductively for the SWDs.

It was found that in both universities, very few classrooms are equipped with
assistive facilities to support learning activities of SWDs in the universities.

Although assistive technologies facilitate and promote individual
functioning and independence of SWDs, there is obviously a deficit in

assistive technologies in lecture halls and labs to enable SWDs actively

engage in learning activities. It is indeed the reality that state universities in
Sri Lanka have neither pullout lecture halls and labs to deliver special care

to SWDs in teaching nor full inclusion lecture halls or laboratories where

SWDs can have assistive technologies to equally engage in leaning activities
like other students. Except a very few cases, where some technologies has

been in placed with outside funding (eg. EU funded IncEdu project) most of
the state universities are unable to technologically modify the lecture halls

with modern assistive technologies. Therefore, it is understandable that

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