“Gateway Achievers” a school for children with different learning abilities

A child with a learning disability cannot try harder, cannot concentrate more, and cannot just be motivated. These children need help to learn how to do these things, because they see, learn and understand things differently. The needs of children requiring special education was a neglected area in Sri Lanka until recently. Most children were educated, as if their learning abilities were similar and thus all students were expected to cope with class syllabi, adopted by whichever school they attended. Fortunately, awareness of differences in learning abilities of children is now increasing, with the knowledge that early intervention and specialized training can make a difference.

Gateway Achievers, is one of Sri Lanka’s premier schools for children identified with, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Autism, etc.

In 2010, Gateway, the wellknown Educational Institution, incorporated “Achievers” as one of its major Social Responsibility Projects, thus “Gateway Achievers” was born. Initially “Achievers” was founded by a group of volunteers, who formed an Association for Individuals with Learning Differences (AILD). Dr. Harsha Alles, Managing Director of the Gateway Group states that, Gateway is pleased to be a part of the Achievers School, as this is a new area in education for Gateway. He further states that in the past requests to accommodate students with learning disabilities were reluctantly declined, due to the lack of professional as well as institutional expertise.