The Ghana Blind Union (GBU) has called on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to pay critical attention to deplorable conditions of special needs schools in the country.
According to the Union, the poor quality of food, lack of infrastructure and unhygienic conditions in dormitories and classrooms were hampering their academic work.
The Bono Regional President of GBU, Mr Isaac Yeboah Afari, made the appeal at a press briefing held on Friday in Sunyani to commemorate this year’s International White Safety Cane Day.
The day is to celebrate the achievements of people who are blind or visually impaired and the importance of the “white cane” as symbol of blindness and tool of independence.
Mr Afari said at the Bechem Demonstration School for the Deaf, for instance, the students lived under unacceptable conditions while students of the St Joseph College of Education Basic School, studied under trees.
This situation they claimed were not different in other inclusive basic schools in the country.
He said although the government, over the years, had increased the enrolment of blind and partially sighted persons in school through the adoption of inclusive education system, a lot more needed to be done to improve quality of learning environment.
“Increasing access to education for visually impaired people and yet relegating quality to the background is meaningless,” he stated.
Mr Afari called for equal treatment from the general public as well as eliminating discriminatory tendencies towards visually impaired.
“We strongly urge communities to regard blind and partially sighted persons as full members and accord them the necessary respect and dignity,” he stated.
“Since it is accepted that culture is dynamic, traditional authorities must do away with some age old customs which are inimical to visually impaired persons,” he said.
The president of the union also appealed to corporate entities and benevolent organisations to assist them procure white canes which they use to aid their movement.
Due to high cost, members of the union, he said were unable to purchase the white cane rendering most of them immobile.
FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH ABESIM
