We will not succeed until every child with disabilities is in school
Children with disabilities in Northern Ghana are often neglected. The community isn’t sure how to best support them, meaning many get left out of school or mistreated. In 2015 Ghana introduced its inclusive education policy, aimed at getting all children, no matter their circumstances, enrolled in to school. VSO have been supporting this work in Northern Ghana, working directly with the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Joachim Faara, the Director of GES in Talensi District explains how children with disabilities are being brought to the classroom.
Teresa Menka
Blessing a girl living with Down's syndrome walks to school in Northern Ghana
Education is a right
"Education is a right. Education empowers a child. Education is the right way. Education gives the children knowledge. It gives a child competencies and skills. It sharpens the attitude of the child and it’s training for them to be functional in society.
Opening up classrooms to children with disabilities
We aim to bring all children with disabilities into the mainstream school system. When we put children with disabilities into school, they get those competencies. We are driving them towards effective citizenship and towards getting a job and career.
It involves identifying those children along with their peers, and bringing them into the same classroom. We need to show their parents that they have a right to education. We need the right resources.
Some of the schools don’t even have furniture. Some children are still crawling [because of their disability] so we need to provide wheelchairs.
Training teachers
Teresa Menka
Joachim with education specialist and VSO volunteer Mary
It also means training teachers. Teachers in Ghana don’t always appreciate that children with disabilities have a place in their classroom. They need to be sensitized on the importance of bringing those children into school.
Working with volunteers
We have worked with VSO over the last ten years, helping to identify those children. They’ve supported us with materials and with human resources. VSO education volunteers are experts in special needs. They have knowledge and can build up our capacity. We are rolling out the models they have taught us.
VSO has also been helping us with involving the parents, particularly in special needs parent teacher groups. Parents should be at the core of the governing system. By developing those groups at the grassroots to district we can fight some of the challenges.
VSO/Teresa Menka
7 year old Jennifer suffers from an abnormality in the development of her legs. Her mother believed there was no way she would be able to attend. VSO volunteer Mary Carnable was able to help put in place measures to get Jennifer to school for the first time.
We will not succeed until every child with disabilities is in school
We know that this is the UK taxpayers’ money helping us. We know that sacrifices have been made. We know individuals [volunteers] have sacrificed their comfort to stay with us. We are empowered by them and now other districts are copying us in our models. They think we are lucky to have worked with VSO.
We work very, very hard to make sure the funding VSO gives - we get the best out of it. People are becoming more positive. Now not everyone thinks that those children can’t go to school or excel or have potential.
We will not succeed until every child with disabilities is in school."
Find out more:
- More information on our work in Ghana
- More information on Inclusive Education in Ghana