Academic Performance and Well-Being of Students with Disabilities in Higher Education: (With Reference to Visually Impaired Undergraduates in Sri Lanka)

Abstract

All students living in the world should have an equal opportunity to get a proper education. Education is one of the most important factors that determine one’s future well-being. Currently, special attention is being paid to the education of students with special needs around the world. As a result, the facilities and new technical knowledge required for people with special needs are expanding. Among students with special needs, visually impaired students face many problems in education. The primary purpose of this research was to identify the problems faced by visually impaired students in higher education. Purposive sampling method was used to select students for the research. Sample consists of 74 visually impaired undergraduates studying at the universities of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo, Kelaniya, Jaffna, and Eastern university of Sri Lanka. The problems faced by visually impaired students were analyzed based on the information obtained through interviews, structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews (with 05 selected students). The main issue pointed out by all the students (100%) was the lack of books for them to use related for their study programs. This is the main reason for confining visually impaired students to a limited number of subject areas in university education. Also, past papers are not available in Braille or any accessible medium for them to refer prior to the examinations. Introducing new subjects or degree program that fit for their necessities and occupation opportunities, preparation of audio books to cover more subject areas and providing a training for students to use computers for examinations are the possible solutions for the academic well-being of visually impaired students. It is important to emphasize that providing equal opportunities alone is not sufficient; it is essential to offer required opportunities that meet their specific needs.