The National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is expected to develop the quality of Para sports in the future. The President of the NPC, Lt. Colonel Deepa Herath, and Social Service Director Chandana Ranaweera joined hands to develop para sports with a new plan.
Last year Para athletes created history by winning the first gold medal by Dinesh Priyantha Herath and Samitha Dulan bronze medal in Javelin Throw at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. These achievements created inspiration among para-athletes. Pradeep Sanjaya was the first Paralympic medalist when he won 400m bronze in the 2012 London Paralympics.
The NPC and Social Service Department successfully conducted the one-day workshop recently at the Media Ministry Auditorium and during this workshop, they have mainly focused on qualifications for disabled persons to involve in Para sports.
The social service senior officials, heads of the Vocational training centers, and the officials of special Needs Education attached to the Education Ministry participated in this workshop. This is the first time NPC and the Social Service Department got together to discuss the betterment of Para sports and it is also a historical occasion, said NPC President Lt Colonel Deepal Herath.
Meanwhile, Social Service Department is expected to conduct their district meets in the next months while they are planning to select high performances para-athletes (at least the first two places of each event) from these meets and give opportunity for them to compete at the next National Para Sport Festival which is scheduled to be held from June 27 to 30.