Suraweera, T.Perera, T.Mihirangana, P.Rukmal, N.Senaviratne, V.2025-10-172025-10-172019-10-17Peradeniya International Economics Research Symposium (PIERS) – 2019, University of Peradeniya, P 72 - 75978955589284123861568https://ir.lib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/20.500.14444/5519Introduction Social sustainability entails the mutual co-existence of individuals, diverse communities and societies. Social equity, social capital, human rights, quality of life, education and social responsibilities are the main factors that promote social sustainability. Persons with Visual Impairment and Blindness (VI&B) represent the largest component of the disabled population in most communities. Education is observed as a key determinant that promotes social inclusion, in particular with respect to children. However, support towards educating children with VI&B is quite poor in the South Asian region including Sri Lanka. Although promoting education is vital for social inclusion, the question arises as to how far Sri Lanka is geared to improve the level of education of children with VI&B. Sri Lanka Government Census of 2012 indicates that 996,939 persons of the age of 5 years and above are blind, which comprises 4.7% male and 6.0% female children (Holmes et al., 2018). Past research, conducted in the West in particular, has observed that visual impairment not only impact on individuals, but also their families, caregivers and community (Köberlein et al., 2013). Sachs and Schreuer, (2011) suggest that promoting education is an essential requirement for people with visual impaired and blind children. Even in the domain of higher education there are several barriers and challenges for people with VI&B. Children with VI&B has more prospects for securing employment which in turn gain strength to sustain themselves financially with self-possession. Vuletić et al. (2016) state that the parents of children with VI&B are very much concerned about the future of their child. Taking the above into consideration a serious knowledge gap exists with respect to social and economic aspects of children with VI&B. On the other hand, research studies focusing on persons with VI&B and differently abled persons are common in developed countries but lacking in the developing countries including Sri Lanka. Thus, this research focuses on the factors that determine promotion of education of children with VI&B in Sri Lanka.enVisual ImpairmentBlindnessSocial InclusionChildrenArticle