Brian Kingston of the School for the Blind at Ratmalana has obtained 9 Distinction (A) passes at the GCE Ordinary Level examination held in 2020, the Board of Trustees of the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) has announced.
Brian has also broken a record at the school, by being the first sight-impaired student to get 9 A passes at his first sitting of the GCE O-Level examination.
Issuing a statement the Board said Brian has been a very diligent student who has consistently achieved high grades in his studies as well as in sports.
“Our deep appreciation goes to the former Principal Mrs. Samanthika Jayasuriya and the teachers who guided and gave their best even during lockdown periods to coach him as well as other students to face this public examination. It is no easy task for the teachers to bear in mind the level of impairment of each student and patiently teach them various subjects, some of which are very difficult to grasp and to express in Braille at such an examination,” it said.
The CSDB further said each year around 6 to 10 students and in some years over 15 students are prepared to face the GCE O- Level Examination by each school of CSDB. In recent years, sight-impaired students have been performing well at the GCE O-Level examination and in addition to the students’ commitment to study, the dedication of the Principal and teachers contributed much to their success. Greater support from all parents is much desired for the students to be more successful.
Considering the type and level of impairment of the students, the sight-impaired students usually are more successful at the GCE O-Level examination, and quite a few qualify to continue their studies up to GCE Advance Level through mainstream schools both public and private. Further, many students qualify to enter University and most of them conventionally join the teaching profession while a few qualify in other professions such as to become lawyers.
The hearing-impaired students as well as teachers in the School for the Deaf at Ratmalana and at Nuffield School, Kaithady face an enormous challenge of very few subject-specific technical terms being available in the Sri Lankan Sign Language. Although sign language is the first language of hearing-impaired students, not having an adequate Sign Language that can appropriately handle the content of school subjects, limits the vocabulary of students. The difficulty the students face with literacy limits their attempts at the GCE O-Level examination. While they perform well in subjects such as Geography, Art, Health Science, Music, Dancing, and Religion, many do not pass in Mathematics, Science, and Languages. Hence, it has been difficult for these students to qualify to do higher studies. However, with the Total Communication method of teaching which involves sign language, lipreading, and speech, that has been adopted in these schools in recent years, students have been able to overcome some of the challenges and GCE O-Level Examination results have improved, it said.
The CSDB added that all three schools are committed to seeing further improvements in students’ performance at public examinations and also enable students to follow non-conventional subjects such as Information and Communication Technology, Agriculture and Food Technology, etc. At the same time, the schools encourage students who have a special talent or skill in specific vocations (e.g. catering, tailoring, graphic designing, etc.) to pursue appropriate training in these fields, be career-oriented, and well equipped to move into society. (NewsWire)