Stakeholders in Education have attended a forum on Inclusive Education in Bolgatanga to deliberate on how to compliment government’s efforts at implementing the document.
The Minister of Education, Professor Jane Nana Opoku Agyemang, gave the approval for the Inclusive Education Policy Document to be implemented to help address the challenges of children with special needs in schools.
The forum which was organized by the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), an International Non-Governmental Organisation was attended by stakeholders including District Directors of Education, Ghana National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Persons with Disabilities , Traditional Rulers and NGOs working in education.
It was also aimed at forming a common platform for the stakeholders to influence national policy on Inclusive Education.
Speaking at the forum, the Programme Manager of VSO in charge of Tackling Education Needs Inclusively (TENI), Mr Erick Duorinaah, said over the past years his outfit had contributed significantly to the education sector in the three Northern Regions by building the capacity of local government structures and Civil Society aimed at improving retention, transition and completion at the basic school level, particularly girls and children with disabilities.
Mr Duorinaah mentioned that under the first phase of the TENI project, it supported about 65,000 school children at the basic school level made up of girls, children with disabilities and vulnerable children.
He indicated that under phase-two of the project which began in 2014 and is expected to end in 2017, about 2,400 school children with disabilities, and 14,938 girls would benefit directly whilst 30,000 children would also benefit indirectly.
He said the Project would continue to partner with the local government structures and CSOs to build the capacity of teachers, head teachers and Circuit Supervisors among others, to effectively attend to children with special needs as well as help provide the educational needs of the most vulnerable.
The Programme Manager, however, regretted that whilst Ghana had made a significant impact in the area of access to education, quality had been compromised. He urged the stakeholders to work hard to support the government to improve the situation.
“We cannot talk of any meaningful development of the three Northern Regions when there is quality crisis in education. A research conducted in our basic schools from the three northern regions indicates about 90 per cent of them cannot read.
“Development partners are worried about this negative trend as they pump many resources and cannot see very much result in quality education. We need to compliment government’s efforts to address the problem”.
He indicated that similar fora would be organized for the Northern and Upper West Regions where inputs would be gathered leading to the holding of a national forum with the objective of influencing national policy on education.
Mr Thomas Patrick Otaah, the National Director of the Ghana Education Service in charge of Special Needs who commended the Ministry of Education for approving the Inclusive Education Policy Document, took the participants through the document.
He said the document which had a five-year implementation period, would help address the challenges of children with special needs, particularly creating a disability-friendly environment in schools.
