EFC completes ICT training for fifth batch of visually impaired persons

Monday, 28 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has been conducting ICT training for visually handicapped persons since August 2009. The fifth batch of ICT trainees (visually handicapped) was awarded certificates on completion of their training on 23 April at the EFC Auditorium. EFC Network on Disability Co-ordinator Tanya Warnakulasuriya in her presentation stated that 15% of the people in the world are disabled and most of them come from developing countries. Warnakulasuriya elaborated that it is important to bring a person with disability out of the shadow to the normal world by empowering them through opening up suitable employment opportunities. Adding to that she also pointed that networking can play a major role in this process. “We need to look at how networking could assist us. Network means connection and the connections established through social media platforms are becoming successful. Networking goes beyond being in touch and reaching out to someone to help is also considered networking.”

The guest speaker for the evening Curtin University of Technology, Australia Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator Dr. Iain Murrey explained what the Cisco programs offer and how it leads to jobs for people with vision impairment. According to Dr. Murrey 68% of the vision impaired persons are unemployed. Through the unique courses that are on offer by Cisco Academy for Vision Impaired CCNA Discovery 1 and 2 (Cisco Certified Network Associate) and IT Essentials 1 and 2 provides the participants with skills to: Install, configure, and operate computer networks; resolve networking issues; and build a computer and install different versions of industry standard operating systems. The academy is looking forward to introduce Braille lessons for the sighted and the course will be made available online.

Dr. Sohan Dharmaraja is one of the brains behind the Braille writer app that is now developed for iPads. Dr. Dharmaraja addressing the gathering stated that he started off the app creation as a self-study project. He then received a lot of support by his university and it led to building a prototype. Soon it was picked up by Apple’s software developers and the Braille writer app was created. In recognition of the training program conducted through EFC Dr. Dharmaraja presented seven ipads which carried the Braille writer app to the EFC ICT training centre. The ceremony ended with the distribution of certificates for the trainees and 30 trainees received their certificates from Dr. Murrey and Dr. Dharmaraja.