Visually impaired student appeals for educational facilities

Master Lord Opoku Sarkodea, the Senior Prefect of Akropong School For the Blind, has appealed to government to provide the needed facilities for people with disability to enable them further their education.

He called on the Ghana Education Service to ensure that educational materials for public special schools for the disabled are made available on time and in the right quantities.

Master Sarkodea was speaking at the celebration of the International Day for Persons With Disability in the Akuapem North Municipality at Akropong.

The programme was organized by the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) in partnership with the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly Directorate of the Ghana Education Service under the Strategic Approaches to Girls Education (STAGE) Project.

The STAGE project is a five year initiative which is being implemented by World Education Incorporated, a civil society organisation, and funded by the United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID).

Master Sarkodea called for adequate motivation of teachers who teach at the special schools to encourage them to do their best.

He called on government to make conscious efforts at promoting respect for the rights of people living with disabilities.

Ms Elizabeth Korkor Amanor, the Akuapem North Municipal Director of Education, called on parents with children with disability not to hide their children but to bring them out and send them to school.

She said conscious efforts are needed for young people to develop positive attitudes towards people with disability.

Ms Amanor called on children with disability to be guided by the achievements of their senior colleagues who have been successful in life.

Ms Elizabeth Agyemang of the Department of Social Welfare, who spoke on behalf of the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly, said government has put in place measures to ensure that people with disabilities are mainstreamed in all government policies and programmes.

She said government has put in place measures to ensure that people with disabilities are employed by state agencies and also ensure the effective application of the disability fund under the District Assembly Common Fund.

Akrahene Nana Asare, who chaired the function, called for the implementation of the law which requires that public buildings are made disability friendly.

He called for special attention to be given to special schools for youth with disabilities.

The STAGE intervention focuses on providing vocational training to 12,600 girls between the ages of 15-19years who are out of school and teach 7,500 girls and transition them to the formal education system within five years.