IT potential for Jaffna's Kaithaddy Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind

I first came across Jaffna's Kaithaddy Nuffield School for the Deaf and Blind back in 2015 at a Christmas carols concert at St. John's College Jaffna. Several schools come to perform at this annual event. The Nuffield kids were one of the best choirs. I went to congratulate the school Principal who was at the time Vasuki Rajasingham. And so my first connection with the school was made.

- BY JEKHAN ARULLIAH

Over the years I have been an occasional visitor to the school. Not that I did much, other than seeing the school and kids in action.

Then I got an opportunity with the donation of funds from New York based Synamon Global, to do something useful.

My visits to the school have always showed a very happy set of kids. Happy kids who were not aware of their probably very bleak future once they left. Good opportunities for even the brightest deaf people, particularly in the North, are very scarce beyond labouring jobs.

The largest part of my career has been in the IT industry. Since coming to Jaffna in 2015 I am now involved as an advisor/mentor in many sectors (tourism, agriculture, SMEs, etc.), IT remains one of them. So I have friends on the ground who will support my initiatives.

Supported by Jaffna software companies Apptimus (Software development) and 3axislabs (Artificial Intelligence, AI), with that funding from New York based Synamon Global to equip a new IT laboratory, we have a project to open up professional ICT careers to the deaf and hearing impaired children at the Nuffield school in Jaffna.

My focus for the kids is on sectors where hearing is not a great issue.