10.6.10 Disability accommodation policy

In 2025, Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) had a reasonable accommodation policy and strategy for people with disabilities in place, including adequate funding. The policy is set out in the Srinakharinwirot University Regulation on Educational Provision for Persons with Disabilities and Educational Support for Students with Disabilities B.E. 2561 (2018), announced on 9 October 2018 (BE 2561), which remained in force throughout 2025. It requires the university to provide services, learning environments, buildings, teaching materials and curricula that meet the individual needs of each student with a disability, and it secures funding by exempting students with disabilities from tuition and other fees, with the university claiming government educational subsidies to cover these costs. A university-level committee sets the policy and guidelines, and the Disability Support Services Center (SWU DSS Center), Division of Student Affairs, puts them into practice.

The university turns this policy into a strategy through regular action. In 2025 the SWU DSS Center trained lecturers, programme chairs and staff to make reasonable adjustments to teaching and support for students with disabilities, hosted a national training for disability support staff, and provided individual support such as orientation and mobility training and a peer buddy scheme.

1. Reasonable accommodation policy: SWU Regulation B.E. 2561 (2018)

The regulation was issued under the Srinakharinwirot University Act B.E. 2559 (2016), the Persons with Disabilities Education Act B.E. 2551 (2008) and the Office of the Higher Education Commission guidelines on promoting higher education for persons with disabilities. It was approved by the University Council at its meeting No. 10/2561 and announced on 9 October 2018 (BE 2561), as stated at the end of the regulation. Its stated purpose is to give persons with disabilities the right to study at SWU on an equal basis with others and to support students with disabilities in line with the law.

Figure 1. Srinakharinwirot University Regulation on Educational Provision for Persons with Disabilities and Educational Support for Students with Disabilities B.E. 2561 (2018), page 1

Figure 2. The regulation, page 2

Figure 3. The regulation, page 3, announced on 9 October 2018 (BE 2561)

Source: https://sdg.swu.ac.th/policies/35

The regulation contains the following provisions on reasonable accommodation:

1) Clause 9: the university promotes and supports welfare for students with disabilities, including scholarships, counselling and other appropriate welfare, so that they can study without barriers.

2) Clause 10: the university adapts the environment, buildings and learning resources so that students with disabilities can access and use them easily, produces teaching materials and adjusts curricula to suit students with disabilities, and provides career guidance on graduation.

3) Clause 11: faculties and units that admit students with disabilities must provide services that suit the specific needs of each type of disability.

4) Clauses 7 and 8: the President appoints a Steering Committee for the Promotion and Support of Education for Students with Disabilities, chaired by the Vice President for Student Development. Its members include experts in special education, deans of faculties that admit students with disabilities, and the directors of the Physical Development Division, the Sustainability Development Division, the Dormitory Management Center and the Division of Student Affairs. The committee sets the policy and guidelines for supporting students with disabilities.

5) Clauses 12 and 13: the university admits persons with disabilities through a dedicated admission project or other selection methods, and each faculty states the number of places and the types of disability it can accommodate in each programme.

Figure 4. Clauses 9 to 11 of the regulation (highlighted) on welfare, accessible environments, adapted teaching materials and curricula, and services matched to the needs of each student with a disability.

Source: https://studentaffairs.op.swu.ac.th/Educationalmanagementfordisabledstudents

2. Adequate funding for students with disabilities

Clause 6 of the regulation provides the funding. The university does not charge students with disabilities tuition, maintenance or other fees directly. Instead, it applies for educational subsidies for students with disabilities from the Office of the Higher Education Commission, now under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), according to the criteria set by the government. In this way the cost of each student’s studies is covered, and lack of money does not prevent a student with a disability from enrolling or continuing to study. Clause 9 adds scholarships and other welfare where appropriate. The SWU DSS Center coordinates the MHESI educational subsidies for undergraduate students with disabilities and also provides assistive equipment and technology on loan, such as notebook computers, voice recorders, text magnifiers, Braille printers and note-takers, electric wheelchairs, and JAWS, Duxbury and ZoomText software.

Figure 5. Clause 6 of the regulation (highlighted): exemption of students with disabilities from tuition and fees, funded through government educational subsidies for students with disabilities.

Source: https://studentaffairs.op.swu.ac.th/Educationalmanagementfordisabledstudents

3. Training lecturers and staff to make reasonable adjustments (2025)

A key part of the strategy is making sure that the people who teach and support students know how to adjust their work. From 5 to 7 February 2025, the SWU DSS Center, Guidance and Counselling Unit, Division of Student Affairs, held a training programme on understanding and supporting students with special needs for academic year 2024 at Health Land Resort & Spa, Chonburi. The call for participants, published on 15 January 2025, was open to lecturers and staff from every faculty and college. The training was designed to inform executives, programme chairs of all faculties and colleges and related units about the university’s policy on admitting students with disabilities, to help lecturers and staff understand each type of disability and give appropriate support, and to build a network of lecturers and staff who support students with special needs. Speakers included the President of the Thai Special Education Teachers Association and specialists from the Bureau of Special Education Administration and Thammasat University.

Figure 6. Lecturers, programme chairs and staff at the training on understanding and supporting students with special needs, 5–7 February 2025, Chonburi.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/swudss/posts/pfbid031sfPGehs1qhWTfjKprs56fkAPvuHSJc1bhrFjj1QfCmeTNewjaMWyi33AGXh62YXl

The training was repeated later in the year with a focus on teaching skills. On 16 October 2025, the Center invited lecturers and academic advisers from all faculties and colleges who had not attended before to join the training programme on knowledge and skills for teaching students with special needs, academic year 2025. The training took place from 17 to 19 December 2025 at Prima Pattaya Hotel, Chonburi, so that lecturers understand the nature of each type of disability, give suitable support in their courses, share experience and build a network of lecturers who support students with special needs. Participants received a certificate on completion.

Figure 7. Opening slide of the training programme on knowledge and skills for teaching students with special needs, academic year 2025, organised by the Guidance and Counselling Unit, Division of Student Affairs, 17–19 December 2025.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/swudss/posts/pfbid0W8UJaL4EzZeUHG31i6oSRTeXptYCHBEWzqtJwqmhcfeVvHXoM45eNWUmvkVYv6LSl

Figure 8. Lecturers from SWU faculties and colleges with the speakers at the December 2025 training, Prima Pattaya Hotel, Chonburi.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/swudss/posts/pfbid0W8UJaL4EzZeUHG31i6oSRTeXptYCHBEWzqtJwqmhcfeVvHXoM45eNWUmvkVYv6LSl

Call for participants (16 October 2025): https://www.facebook.com/swudss/posts/pfbid029aYxcRcuBA8azo8ZunvxTFw6HUnLpsLNN45PdDesCpev1VtzaezRHHRtgibq1yq9l

4. Building the capacity of disability support staff (11 June 2025)

On 11 June 2025, SWU hosted the training programme “Basic Psychological Counselling for Students with Special Needs in Higher Education” for staff of disability support service centres from universities across Thailand. The programme was opened by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cholvit Jearajit, President of SWU, at the 70th Anniversary Srisa-nga Mahanakorn Meeting Room, 18th floor, Prof. Dr. Saroj Buasri Innovation Building, Prasarnmit Campus. It strengthened the counselling skills that staff use when supporting students with disabilities.

Figure 9. SWU executives and disability support staff from universities across Thailand at the training on basic psychological counselling for students with special needs, 11 June 2025.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/swudss/posts/pfbid0fG2oEJQWVkcXC2ZrX2YscxZ57pp5AZWiwTvSvwv5jqCPbN7N5qDxLMHi2YCzmPD2l

5. Individual accommodation for students with disabilities (2025)

The SWU DSS Center also arranges support for individual students. On 4 September 2025, the Center ran an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training for a student with a visual impairment from the Faculty of Humanities. She practised O&M skills and surveyed routes inside the university so that she could travel to her destinations on campus independently and with confidence. The trainer was an O&M specialist from Ratchasuda Institute, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University.

Figure 10. A student with a visual impairment practising orientation and mobility skills with a white cane on the Prasarnmit Campus, 4 September 2025.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/swudss/posts/pfbid0o5FeS8v7PkwTjUbrycT6jUu3sy86f1TwZ1dhZDa4PkoU7pF7hpzAxDez7YdDFgogl

On 29 August 2025, the Center opened applications for student volunteers to join the SWU BUDDY scheme. Buddies help fellow students with disabilities in daily life on campus, for example by assisting wheelchair users and students with visual impairments to travel to the MRT or BTS, or by walking with them from a meeting point to their classroom. Volunteers must be ready to learn basic skills for assisting people with disabilities, and they receive public service activity hours and a certificate.

Figure 11. Poster inviting students to apply as SWU BUDDY volunteers to assist fellow students with disabilities, published by the SWU DSS Center on 29 August 2025.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/swudss/posts/pfbid02MQcHxME1MRn54pKtd1BFXCmtHW7S1L9iHrX5ofPokXDF66SHqUtnjR39kscDWgPbl