“Disability in a person is not inability,” says veteran educator, activist Vellayan Subramaniam

Below is the first segment of an interview with Vavuniya University Support Centre for People with Disability (SCPD) Coordinator and educator Vellayan Subramanium. He is a veteran activist for support for those with disability and is a longstanding member of the  National Council for Persons with Disability. He is also a member of the Sub-Committee for Persons with Disability in the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. 

In this initial interview he emphasises the need for creating more public awareness on the difference between the terms disability, impairment and handicapped. As an educator and economist, he explains the importance of increasing human potential in especially the younger generation. He highlights that Sri Lankans, including those of Sri Lankan origin, have expertise in every sphere  to create suitable solutions for the challenges faced by the country in diverse spheres. 

This interview is produced with the collaboration of the Vavuniya University Support Centre for Persons with Disability (SCPD), under the guidance of those such as the Vavuniya University Vice Chancellor Prof. T. Mangaleswaran, International Research Centre Head Prof. Suresh Surendran and veteran eye surgeon and activist in preventing blindness Dr. M. Malarawan, who is also one of the founding members of the Vavuniya University Harmony Centre. 

Key members of the SCPD, its Director P. Godwin Phillip and Management/IT Assistant A. Kirushanthan, will be among the SCPD team producing awareness based articles for the Weekend FT Harmony page explaining how educational institutes can become hubs of enhancing rights and capacities of those who are differently abled and focusing on interaction between universities to better assist in this goal.  

These articles will especially include narratives where fully abled persons will be motivated by those with disability who excel at academic performance, innovation and other feats, at times exceeding the displayed capacity of some of those who are not disabled. 

In the writings we will keep in mind that disability is something that can strike anyone due to any circumstances including man-made or natural disasters.

The Harmony Page will also dedicate its space to post 2009 disability related research concerning the after effects of the civil war in Sri Lanka.  

The preliminary interview with V. Subramaniam, an educator who has served as Zonal Education Director and a key capacity development expert in Sri Lanka is an initiative taken by the Harmony Page to create the media space to discuss the rights of those who are differently-abled.

Q: When did you lose your sight?

A: In 1978. I was 24-years-old and was in the process of pursuing a B.Com degree from the Peradeniya University and was in the final year. Then I faced an accident that made me lose my sight completely. Despite this, and although I had to forgo one academic year due to trying to regain my sight with medical help, I shortly somehow completed my university degree. 

Thereafter I registered at the school for the blind and began to learn Braille. Subsequently, I enrolled at the University of Jaffna to continue my university education at the Department of Economics under the supervision of the then head of department Prof. T. Rajaratnam. He extended his fullest support to me and I obtained a degree in economics. 

I then registered for a Diploma in Education and a Masters in Education at National Institute of Education in Maharagama. NIE is the deciding body of all curricula in main schools and for teacher training as well as higher diploma and training.

Q: Why did you not go onto doing a PhD?

A: As I was planning to, I lost my wife in the year 2002 and was left with the challenge of caring for my two small children. Hence, I shifted my attention to this family duty and focused on my teaching career, abandoning my plans to do a doctorate. 

Q: What are the schools you have taught in?

A: I started my teaching career at St. John’s College in Jaffna from 1981 to 1990. I taught economics. At the height of the war, we were all displaced several times and then I finally came to Vavuniya and taught at the Saivapiragasa Ladies College. From 2008 I was attached to the Department of Education in Vavuniya South Zonal Education office and served as an In-Service-Advisor in Special Education. I functioned in this role up to my retirement in 2014.

Q: Could you explain the work you do at the Vavuniya University SCPD?

A: I joined Vavuniya University as the coordinator of the SCPD last year after the university became a full-fledged university.

The University of Vavuniya is taking several measures to make a serious contribution to education and capacity building of youth in Sri Lanka. Capacity of youth includes youth those who are disabled. Out of 17 State Universities, there are five university located disability support centres.  Vavuniya University as the youngest university, having recently upgraded itself to university status in 2021, is the latest campus to create a disability support centre in its premises.  It is the first university to have such a unit from the inception itself. 

My role is to assist it to become a support base that will enable disabled students from around the country to be able to get equal opportunity. Currently there are Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim students studying in this university from across Sri Lanka.

Q: Should there not be such disability centres in school schools as well as a standard practice?

A: There should be. There are some schools that have special education units but I am not sure of the exact details. Anyway, there is much to be done to create an equality based setting for children who are disabled. This is very challenging though, as there are many forms of disability. 

At the provincial department of education there is an Assistant Director for special education and such an attempt is made to achieve equality in school based opportunity for those who are disabled. It is up to all of us to assist in these endeavours. 

When I was the In-Service Advisor, we did several activities for children such as sports and cultural activities that also looked at enabling more interaction between disabled and non-disabled children. Where such interaction takes place, there is much room for increased capacity and positive attitude building in both segments of children.

Special education teachers are trained to coach disabled children to get maximum competencies in ordinary classrooms.  It may be challenging but the effort should be kept up. 

Q: Could you explain the subtle differences between disability, impairment and handicapped?

A: Disability means a permanent condition that cannot be rectified such as blindness, loss or limb, deafness or such an equivalent. Impairment means, for example, that you could have a deterioration of sight or shortage of hearing but where it can be rectified with treatment, at least to some extent and you are able to perform sight and hearing related tasks. 

The word handicapped  relates to a condition where a person who is disabled is unable to reach their potential. The term handicapped is hence related to a rights based condition. For example, I am disabled but I am not handicapped because I have achieved all the normal stages of life such as education, marriage, social mixing and so forth. I had a disability but because I had the right to education and social mobility it did not prevent me from a career and a fulfilling life. (SV)