Government should commit to “inclusive education” of visually impaired children

Participants at a day’s forum in Ho on Wednesday urged government to demonstrate commitment to “inclusive education” for children with visual impairment.

They said few children with disabilities who found themselves in segregated special schools have difficulty integrating into the larger society after their training and that children with disabilities have the right to “inclusive education”.

They asked government to implement the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD because a “good” number of children with partial disabilities remained out of school, hidden away from the public view.

Mr Eric Ofori, an Executive Member of New Horizon Foundation of the Blind (NHFB), a Ho-based NGO, which organized the forum said “society and environment” were further disenabling the disabled.

He said it was unfortunate that Ghana has only two special schools catering for the over 8,000 children with visual impairment.

Mr Isaac Kodobisah, Ho Municipal Chief Executive, said the Assembly was collaborating with NHFB to establish a centre for the visually impaired in Ho.

He called for closer collaboration with other NGOs and the various disabled associations to help create the “enabling environment” for the education of children with disabilities.

Mr Japhet Buamah, Ho Municipal Peripatetic Officer of the Ghana Education Service (GES), said the system of education based “solely” on reading and writing was not the best as it disadvantaged the disabled.

“It is not only those who can read and write who constitute the best human resource base of this nation”, he added.

Mr Buamah said “inclusive education” was “suffering” because of low budgetary allocations adding that sometimes, workshops aimed at training teachers in handling disabled students are not held due to inadequate funds.

Source: GNA