The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) is
asking the government to relook at her commitment on Inclusive Education and
make it more suitable for the country
The Government of Ghana in 2018 made commitments at the
Global Disability Summit held in London which aimed at implementing laws and
policies to protect the rights of people with disabilities
The Government represented by the then Minister of Gender,
Children and Social Protection Ms Otiko Afisa Djaba, said among other commitments
that that the Ministry of Education and the Ghana education Service was committing
to accelerating the implementation of the Inclusive Education Policy by
increasing the provision of infrastructural facilities to address the diverse
learning needs of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Government will also prioritize the training of teachers to
support inclusive schools and special schools and progressively increase the
budgetary allocations for Inclusive Education by 1.5 percent beginning in 2019
The GFD at end of a two day post-summit meeting is however
asking government to prioritize the training of teachers across the country to
support inclusive education.
Mr Alexander Bankole Williams, Chairman of the National
Advocacy Committee of the GFD explained that it should be easy for parents of
children with disabilities to enrol their children in the nearest schools within
their communities and not have to travel to look for an inclusive school for
their children.
The Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations will
therefore issue a communique to government on how the organization sought to
engage the government in dealing with the respective commitments.
The government of Ghana also made commitment to eliminate
stigma and discrimination, to increase economic empowerment of persons with
Disabilities, to improve technology and innovation, to enhance the lives of women
and girls with disabilities, to mainstream disability needs and concerns in
humanitarian activities and to implement the Ghana Accessibility standards
The Global Disability Summit 2018 had four core themes which
are dignity and respect for all, inclusive education, routes to economic
empowerment and harnessing technology and innovation.
The Department for International Development (DFID) UK and
other hosts of the summit are working at the country level to develop an
accountability mechanism to support and monitor progress made against the new commitments.
The Special Mothers Project is one of the organizations supported by the DFID to participate in the Global Disability Summit 2018 in the United Kingdom. The SMP is an advocacy and awareness creation programme on cerebral palsy issues in Ghana. The Project uses the media to advocate for policies that will enhance the lives of families raising children with cerebral palsy in Ghana.
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