A partnership between the government of Ghana and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is in the offing and is expected to occasion the opening of assessment centers for students with special needs, second lady Hajai Samira Bawumia has hinted.
Samira Bawumia was speaking at the climax of the 15th anniversary celebration of Catholic Special Vocational School at Fijai in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of the Western region.
According to the second lady, it is the conviction of government that the initiative will enable educational institutions, parents and other stakeholders to get a specialized assessment for children with special needs.
The 15th anniversary celebration of Catholic Special Vocational School was under the themed “15 Years of Vocational Training for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: An Inclusive Effort”.
Speaking on the theme, the headmistress of the school, Rose Margaret Kwoffie, underscored the need for the school to be supported.
She enumerated delayed funds, inadequate staff and lack of infrastructure as some of the challenges of the school. She also described as worrying, a situation that the school’s administration block serves as a dining hall for the students and her official residence.
Madam Kwoffie explains that there are only two resident house mothers who take care of about 100 students.
She bemoaned the state of their dormitory and classroom blocks saying “congestion is hitting the school”. She again lamented learning materials needed to equip the psycho-motor and develop the intellectual capabilities of students are not are not forthcoming.
Meanwhile, delays in government subvention are reported to be a setback for effective and efficient operations of some government special vocational schools. The Catholic Special Vocational School and the Cape Coast School for the deaf in Western and Central regions respectively are no exceptions.
Unlike the mainstream schools, these special schools depend solely on government funds to run. Students in these special school students are told not to pay any money to school authorities except for school uniforms and some provisions to aid their stay in the schools.
Considering the immediate needs of the school, the second lady pledged an initial amount of GH₵ 10,000 for the refurbishment of the school’s kitchen. She also made a clarion call on all to contribute to the developments of the institution.
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