By: Deborah Amewoyi
President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations, Joseph Atsu Homadzie has called on the government to enhance its efforts to providing access to tertiary education to Persons with Disability (PWD’s).
This amongst many other requests were tabled before Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu during a consultation at the Ministry of Education yesterday, June 3. President of the federation called for discussions into the timelines for rolling out the inclusive education policy as contained in the campaign promises of President, John Dramani Mahama.
In response, Education Minister, Haruna Iddrissu assured that the president will honour his promise further encouraging the delegation from the federation to assist students to apply for the No fee stress scheme in order to benefit from the free tertiary education policy.
According to Mr. Iddrisu, the Ministry is working in hand with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission in order to compile data of PwD’s for the effective roll out of the Inclusive Educational Policy.
Additionally, Federation head appealed to the Government to provide intel on its budgetary allocations for disability – friendly education and the timelines for the introduction of sign languages in basic schools accross the country.
Notably, President John Dramani Mahama during the States of the Nation’s Address highlighted the Government’s intention to roll out sign language curriculum in the various basic schools. “This year, the Ministry of Education will fully implement a new curriculum for Senior High Technical Schools and STEM Schools, introduce a standardized National Sign Language for hearing-impaired learners from Kindergarten to SHS, and review the Kindergarten and Primary School curriculums.” he stated.
The president also revealed its intentions to introduce the no-fee policy for Persons with Disabilities (PwD’s) gaining admission to tertiary institutions. Significantly, Haruna Iddrisu has assured that plans to see these promises come to light are in the pipeline further urging the federation of its assurance.
“The best of John Mahama is ahead of us and not behind us. To measure John Dramani Mahama, let’s measure him today and in the future,” Mr. Iddrisu noted during a meeting with the leadership of the Federation” he said.
Conclusively, he announced that the ministry has put together a committee charged to develop a roadmap against the free tertiary education policy for Persons with Disability.
The Committee will be chaired by deputy Education Minister, Clement Apaak, with the Students Loan Trust Fund CEO, Saajida Shiraz, President of the Federation, Joseph Atsu Homadzie and two other representatives from the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations as members.
