Special schools mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The Ghana Education Service (GES), Special Education Division of the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with its partners, has observed this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the Akropong School for the Blind at Akropong- Akuapem in the Akuapem North Municipality in the Eastern Region.

The partners included the Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning (T-TEL) and the Chance for Childhood, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), among others.

December 3 every year marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), a day set aside to promote the rights and well-being of PWDs worldwide.  

The celebration for this year was on the theme: “Amplifying the leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future”. 

The participating schools for the programme included the Akropong School for the Blind, Dzorwulu Special School, Mampong Demonstration School for the Deaf, Mampong Senior High School for the Deaf and Akropong Municipal Assembly Junior High School.

They competed in unified football games, cultural performances, book reading in braille and print, poetry recitals and drama, among others.

In a welcome address, the Headmistress of Akropong School for the Blind, Veronica Dery, said people with disabilities needed to be assisted in every way possible to unearth their talents.

The Director for the Special Education Division of the Ministry of Education, Helena Mensah, in her remarks, said she was proud to lead a team dedicated to ensuring that students with disabilities received the support and resources they needed to succeed.

Trailblazers  

She said persons with disabilities were not only participants in shaping the future, but they were trailblazers in driving meaningful change.

According to her, every day, PWDs demonstrated courage, resilience and innovation, yet their contributions were often unnoticed, their voices unheard, saying: “Today, we affirm our commitment to amplifying their voices and ensuring that their leadership is recognised and celebrated”.

She said as a society, we must remove the barriers both physical and attitudinal that inhibit persons with disabilities from reaching their full potential.

The Key Advisor on Inclusive Education for T-TEL, Yvette Fyadede, said T-TEL was ensuring that the new SHS curriculum was inclusive for learners with disabilities.

She said T-TEL was developing the Ghanaian Sign Language curriculum from kindergarten to senior high level to close the language acquisition gap among deaf persons in Ghana.

She said currently, blind learners were not studying Mathematics in senior high schools and, therefore, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), in collaboration with T-TEL, had adapted the Mathematics curriculum and provided resources to learners and teachers.

The Country Director for Chance for Childhood, Abdul Ghaffar Adam, one of the partners of the programme, said his organisation was ensuring an inclusive society began when every child, including children with disabilities, was provided equal opportunities to be educated.