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Gov’t urged to include sign language in Schools Curriculum

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Expand access to education for the Deaf in Ghana at all levels-Headmaster

In order to end the many challenges confronting the all-inclusive educational policy in Ghana, the Headmaster of the Wa School for the Deaf, Sylvester Bayor, has called on government to include sign language in the curriculum of the Colleges of Education.

Mr Bayor observed that resource persons who are key in bridging the gap for persons with special needs at the basic and Senior High Schools are lacking in Ghana’s Educational Sector.

 He said as it stands now, Ghana has only two senior high schools: Mampong Integrated and Saint John’s in Navrongo in the Upper East Region which cannot absorb all students who complete the JHS even though the distance is far.

 He made the observation at Stakeholders Meeting on the topic: “Expanding Access to Education for the Deaf in Ghana”, at Wa in the Upper West Region.

According to American Fulbright Research Specialist, Joel Runnels, Dr. Andrews Foster was a pioneer who left the U.S to bring deaf education to Ghana in July 1957.

Joel Runnels taking Headmasters/Headmistresses through exhibition exercise.

Which he said government initially rejected saying it was not needed because no one knew the deaf could read and write. But government later observed that children in Foster Mission School were making improvement and supported the move.

 More than 60 years since the founding of deaf education in Ghana, hundreds of deaf children have no access to education at all levels, from basic school to tertiary.

The Stakeholders Meeting was however to engage SHS/NVTI heads, Regional, District, and Special Education Officers on Expanding Access to Education for the Deaf in Ghana from the Junior High School to the Senior High level.

 The Headmaster of the Wa School for the Deaf, Mr Sylvester Bayor, asked the government to train more teachers for the sector to solve the challenges confronting them.

“Currently we have only one segregated senior high school which is Mampong and the Nearest is the Saint John’s in Upper East for the whole Northern sector but when they are to select schools they have to choose five which they cannot continue to select the same school,” Mr Bayor stated.

“But if you select any different SHS of your choice and you are placed there, you will go and they will not admit you, not deliberately but because there are no resource person for sign language.”

“Ghana is talking about inclusive education so there should be inclusiveness throughout basic to the tertiary level,” he added.

Mr. Bayor said segregation of schools for persons with disabilities is discriminatory and people in deprived areas have no access to education due to limited number of the special schools and resource persons in the country.

Sign Language Teacher taking some adults through an exhibition.

The U.S Fulbright Research Specialist, Joel Runnels noted that Ghana is leading in Africa in the area of deaf education but more needs to be done in the area of access to Senior High Schools.

“So it’s been a success but it terms of inclusive education and policy which envisioned that all must have access to education as same students that is where we are here to move those ideas into tangible actions. For example at Saint John’s College at Navrongo they have been integrated including deaf students but that is only one and is nothing because not all can go into that one,” Mr. Runnel said.

Mr Runnels also appealed to government to find a new way of constructing more infrastructures and creating enabling environment for persons with special needs.

 He said many parents feel disappointed when they give birth to person with disability and entreat parents to send their wards to schools saying that disability is not inability.

Headmaster of the Wa Senior High School, Simon Bondong lauded the move to bring all the pupil with special needs to SHS but called for special programmes that will inure to their advantage.

Story filed by Dennis Bebane.

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