General News of Wednesday, 20 September 2017

Source: 3news.com

'We want to go school' – Visually impaired students cry for placemnent

The educational future of some 26 visually impaired students hang in the balanceThe educational future of some 26 visually impaired students hang in the balance

The educational future of some 26 visually impaired students of the Akropong School for the Blind in the Eastern region hang in the balance.

This is because the students who are qualified for placement have still not been allocated schools weeks after other eligible candidates have gone to school.

The plight of these students persist despite the fact that government has deployed ministers across the country, to ascertain the success of the Free SHS policy.

An obviously distraught student, Boateng Salifu, pleaded with 3FM’s Mercy Catherine Adjabeng for 3FM to help them get the attention of the authorities because all efforts to be heard have fallen on deaf years.

“We met a man called Agenfrah who gave us his number and told us they would work on it. But when we call he doesn’t pick up.

We have been to the Ministry and other places for the past three weeks but nothing has been done” he said.

He added that “we are 26 in all; 10 males and 16 females and we can only be placed in six schools in the whole country: Akropong School for the Blind and Akwapeman in the Eastern region, Mawuli and Adidome Secondary Schools in the Volta. The rest are Wenchi and Wa Senior High Schools in the Brong Ahafo and Upper West regions respectively.”

Boateng Salifu made a passionate appeal to the government, saying; “we are crying on the government to listen to us and let us go to school because they are saying no one should sit by the road side and beg for money. We are also determined to go to school and earn a living so that we can take care of ourselves and our families and not become a burden to them.

Some of us have already bought our provisions for school and they are getting wasted”, he lamented.