Kelvin’s teacher reached out to the Special Mothers Project, an organization that engages in advocacy for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.
He had a concern, the school is not ready to register Kelvin
for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), Kelvin, has been in the
school since infancy and has always been promoted to the next class with his
peers
Kelvin, though very intelligent and able to answer questions
orally is unable to write, this has to do with his disability.
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects the
part of the brain that coordinates movement. Most persons living with cerebral
palsy have challenges with movement.
Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but
include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may
be problems with sensation, vision, hearing, and speaking. Often, babies with cerebral
palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children of their
age. Other symptoms may include seizures
Kelvin is affected mostly with the hands and he is unable to
write even though he demonstrates remarkable intelligence.
Kelvin’s case is not unique, many parents with children who
have special educational needs will attest to the fact that it is very
difficult getting their children into the regular educational stream.
Most schools do not know how to handle such children and
most teachers are fixated on just academics to the detriments of other talents
and inborn skills that a child with special educational needs may have.
Adwoa Okorewaa, a mother of a nine-year-old girl with
cerebral palsy sharing her experience said, “I wanted my daughter to go to
school not necessarily to achieve academic laurels but her time away in school
could offer me some respite, away from caregiving.
Being in school was also an opportunity to build her social
interaction skills, get her to know people, especially her peers and learn a
few things that are not taught in books; however, some teachers are
antagonistic to the idea of a child with special educational needs getting into
mainstream education.
The Ghana Educational Service in the year 2015 launched the
Inclusive Education Policy to redefine and recast the delivery and management
of educational services to respond to the diverse needs of all learners within
the framework of universal design for learning and child friendly school
concept.
The policy includes all children with special needs
including those with disabilities, however, most schools even the public
schools supposed to be implementing these policies seem unfriendly to children
with special educational needs
Ms Okorewaa says, “I have seen children with disabilities
gifted with so much skills and talent but are left untapped and not harnessed
because of our educational system that really excludes children with
disabilities.
The Ghana Educational Service (GES) in conjunction with the
Ghana National Association of Teachers has in recent times developed a new
standard-based curriculum. The GES new curriculum is drawn on best practices
all over the globe and is to be utilized by educators in basic schools all over
Ghana.
The curriculum, according to the GES, intends to provide
students with skills, both soft and hard, to allow them to navigate the modern
world and the inherent challenges.
“Teachers will be tasked to go more in-depth,
considering the reduced learning areas. Lower and upper primary subjects are
going to be as before. However, the curriculum proposes fewer concepts that
have more depth for every idea. The new system places more focus on proper
literacy and numeracy as they are the pillars of all advanced studies.
The GES new curriculum is standard-based, meaning that every
student or learner ought to demonstrate competency and mastery of knowledge.
All students (P2, P4 and P6) will undergo a mandatory assessment to check and
track their performance.
Ms Okorewaa however, said I don’t know how they are going to
assess my child; my child does not speak clearly and does not use the hands to
write efficiently, how does my child fit into this whole educational system?
She proposed an alternative where children with special
educational needs can move along with their peers in school but are assessed in
the most suitable ways and are supported to fit into the job market.
Some teachers that the writer spoke to with regards to the new curriculum
admitted that the new curriculum seems to be more friendly towards a child with
special educational needs, however, some also admits that not all teachers are
willing to embrace the changes that involves making children with special
educational needs the centre of our educational goals to the benefit of all.
Ms Okorewaa said, it also seems that there is no efficient
monitoring system to check teachers who refuse to comply with the new
educational changes.
