Upper West Regional President for Ghana Federation of Disability Organization (GFDO), Ibrahim Saani says for all-inclusive education policy to come to reality, teacher training institutions must review their curriculum to include persons living with disabilities.
Mr Saani said Persons living with disabilities have special educational needs that require professional teachers in the field to handle them.
He said this in an interview with Dennis Bebane, A1 Radio’s Upper West Regional Correspondent in Wa.
Mr Saani observed that the few Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in the various public schools are unable to cope with their colleagues because the teachers do not understand their situation and how to support them.
He also called for restructuring of the physical structures of all schools across the country to be friendlier for Persons who are differently abled to access education.
He said, “I’m also suggesting that the training colleges should review their curriculum so that they can train teachers on disability issues and the inclusive education policy. Ones they learn this and they come out, they will be able to handle school children as expected so that all persons will benefit whether abled or disabled.”
The national Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Act 2016 defines Inclusive Education as a system wherein students with and without disability learn together and the system of teaching and learning is suitably adapted to meet the leaning needs of different types of students with disabilities.
Ghana’s Inclusive Education Policy provides a more harmonized and strategic approach to planning and financial prioritization in order to roll-out Inclusive Education activities on a wider scale and reach all learners with special educational needs.
In 2009, Inclusive Education was piloted in the Central, Greater Accra, and Eastern Region, and by 2011 it was implemented in 529 schools.
But how realistic has this been? Despite an overall increase in school enrolment in Ghana, some children continue to be left behind, particularly children with disabilities, who attend either to segregated boarding schools or are not enrolled at all.
Education of children and youth with disabilities started in Ghana in the year 1936 but the country is yet to see all schools enrolled on the programme.
Source: A1Radiooline.com|101.1MHz|Dennis Bebane|Ghana|
