Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind

The deaf community in Sri Lanka faces major obstacles in education and employment. To date, no deaf learner has entered a university. The deaf community faces negative attitudes and discrimination. Though the policy environment has been improving related to the rights of the differently abled people, the community receives very limited government support.  

Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind (Kaithadi, Jaffna) is the primary institution comprehensively serving the deaf community in North and East Sri Lanka. The school was started in 1956 and is being administered by the Board of Trustees appointed by the Anglican Church.  Currently, 125 deaf, and 3 visually impaired children attend the school, the majority residing at the school. An additional 20 children from the Eastern province are expected to join the school in the coming weeks.

They do have regular operational funds. However, they are finding it difficult to raise funds for projects and activities that can improve the quality of life of these children. We have discussed the current needs of the school with Ms. Amara Somasundaram, the Principal of the school. Possible projects include repairing hearing aids, obtaining new hearing aids, training for hearing aid repair, small scale farming, and improving the computer capability of the staff. The principal will hold further discussions with teachers and the school community. We will formulate the specific project after receiving their feedback.

We hope that the January 2023 project will benefit all the children at Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind.