Office of Dansoman Special School locked up

Mrs Sandra Ogyiri, Headmistress of Dansoman Five School, has locked up the office of Dansoman Five Unit Special School, forcing the Founder and Unit Head of the school to operate from a resource centre.

Dansoman Five Unit Special School, which is attached to the Dansoman Five School, takes care of 51 children with down syndrome, autism, deafness and other health challenges.

Mrs Regina Huagie Founder of the special school discharges her duties from the centre meant for practical training of the disabled children.

Electricity supply to the school has been cut off for more than two months due to the failure of the authorities to settle a huge bill.

Mrs Ogyiri, who is operating from an office located in the last floor of a three-storey school office building, told Ghana News Agency that Mrs Huagie is supposed to be a classroom teacher and not to be in an office.

“Why should she use an office?” She asked.

The Headmistress said the special school is under her jurisdiction and therefore she could use both offices.

Mrs Ogyiri confirmed that the special school has no power, explaining that the contractor who was working on the school’s new building tapped the electricity power illegally.

Authorities of the school say learning without adequate ventilation or fan, is horrible for autistic and down syndrome children who become irritated.

Though the newly built school has a poly tank, there is no water for storage making it extremely difficult for both children and teachers to use the places of convenience.

Playing materials and teaching-learning resources like computers, markers, crayons, books and audio-visuals are either in short supply or not available.

Ms Huagie said the school lack the resources required to effectively integrate the children in the social setting and develop their talents to make them useful towards national development as has been done elsewhere.

The school has only four specially trained teachers.

She observed that keeping children with disabilities is expensive and requires heavy investment in training teachers, recruiting therapists, and getting special furniture as well classrooms, which the school woefully lack.

Health experts say common physical traits of down syndrome persons are low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the centre of the palm.

Autistic persons are often obsessive with objects, ideas or desires. They also exhibit ritualistic or compulsive behaviour patterns like sniffing, licking, watching objects fall, flapping arms, spinning, and rocking, humming, tapping, sucking as well as rubbing clothes.