Blind school calls for return of nurse to the school

Akropong-Akuapem, Nov. 7, GNA - Mr Patrick Martey, the Chairman of Okaishie Youngsters Club, a benevolent society based in Accra, has appealed to the Director General of the Ghana Health Service to ensure that a nurse is provided for the Akropong School for the Blind. He said there was no point in the argument that due to scarcity the only nurse serving 300 blind school children should be withdrawn to serve able-body persons.

Mr Martey made the appeal at the weekend when his club presented goods worth 60 million cedis and a cheque for 12 million cedis to be used to buy brail paper for the school.

The items included 30 bags of rice, five bags of sugar, two bags of floor, several boxes of toilet rolls, boxes of biscuits, fruit juice, disinfectants, some drugs and to boxes of brail paper. He said he had spoken to a friend who is a doctor and he had promised to visit the school once a month to help solve some of the medical problems of the school until a permanent nurse is provided for the school.

Mr Martey expressed appreciation of the club to LETAP Pharmaceuticals who provided the club with drugs worth 5.8 million cedis and a cheque for 7.2 million cedis for the purchase of the brail paper. He said M and G Pharmaceuticals and Golden Tower Company Ltd supported the club to raise some of the goods that they presented to the school.

The Programme Co-ordinator of the Club, Mr Atta Asumandu Jnr, said this year the club has supported some institutions that take care of vulnerable children to the tune of 200 million cedis. The institutions are Osu Children's Home, Bawjase Orphanage, Peace and Love Orphanage and the maternity ward of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Receiving the items the Headmaster of the school, Mr Henry Ahiableh, said the school that was established 61 years ago runs the same syllabus as any other basic school and the children had been scoring good marks.

He said this year the school placed 10th among the 68 Junior Secondary Schools in the Akuapem North District that took part in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Mr Ahiableh said the government provides the school with its entire requirement but the problem had been with the delay in the release of the grants.