The Akropong School for the Blind is in dire need of Perkins braillers as the school population of about 400 currently has only 10 Perkins braillers, making it extremely difficult for the smooth operation of academic activities.
A Perkins brailler is a braille typewriter with a key corresponding to each of the six dots of the Braille code, a space key, a backspace key, and a line space key.
Like a manual typewriter, it has two side knobs to advance paper through the machine and is mostly used by the visually impaired.
In an interview with the Ghanaian Times on Wednesday, the headmistress of the school, Madam Makela Narh, appealed to philanthropists and corporate bodies to help each pupil get a Perkins brailler to facilitate teaching and learning in the school.
She said a Brailler cost GH¢7000.00 so it was impossible for the school alone to bear the cost, adding that most of the parents could not afford it.
“Many of the pupils here are from deprived homes and that makes it difficult for them to get the materials needed for learning, that is why I am pleading with the public to come to our aid,” she lamented.
According to Madam Narh, the government was doing its best to assist the school but it could not do it all alone, hence the need for individual’s support.
She further revealed that the school was also in need of bread making machine roller since they now go outside to roll the mixed flour at a very expensive price every day.
“We have the bread making machine but the roller is our problem now because the pupils eat bread everyday so we bake bread daily and after mixing the ingredient, we go out to roll the mixture at a high cost which is not helping at all,” she lamented.
The Akropong School for the Blind was established in 1945 and it is made up of different departments from the Kindergarten to the Junior High School (JHS) level.
It also has a Vocational Department, the Music Unit and the Adult Rehabilitation Class.
The Adult Rehabilitation Class is set up for people who become blind late in their life time.
FROM RAISSA SAMBOU, AKROPONG
