The government has taken a deliberate, funded, and irreversible step towards inclusive education.
At a press conference in Accra, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, announced that special needs education for persons with disability is now free.
Backed by an allocation of GH¢100 million from the GETFund formula for 2026, the policy removes the final financial barrier that has kept thousands of children with disabilities out of school or struggling to stay in.
This is not charity. This is justice. And it is long overdue.
For years, Ghana has spoken the language of inclusion.
We ratified conventions.
We passed laws.
We built special and integrated schools.
But talk without money is a promise without delivery.
That gap is now being closed.
Following the amendment of the Ghana Education Trust Fund Act 581, the minister has issued policy directives making GETFund the main vehicle for funding free special needs education.
In concrete terms, this means GH¢100 million has been ring-fenced for 2026, with a further commitment that the allocation will continue annually throughout President John Dramani Mahama’s tenure, into 2027 and 2028.
The impact is immediate and practical.
GETFund will absorb the cost of feeding for all learners in public special and integrated schools.
The feeding fee has also been increased from GH¢8 to GH¢15 per child, effective immediately.
Heads of institutions will no longer have to “hold their calabash” waiting for warrants from the Ministry of Finance.
For parents, the message is simple: there is no more excuse, and no more barrier.
For school administrators, the message is: plan, teach, and care.
The money will be there.
Why this matters.
Ghana currently has about 39 public special and integrated schools: 29 special boarding schools, seven integrated schools for the visually impaired, and three integrated schools for the hearing impaired.
They cater for approximately 9,000 learners — 8,800 boarders and 200 day students.
Behind each of those numbers is a child with a dream, a talent, and a right to develop.
A visually impaired child who wants to be a lawyer.
A hearing impaired child who wants to be an engineer.
A child with cerebral palsy who wants to be a teacher.
Being physically challenged was never meant to mean limited opportunity.
But without accessible classrooms, assistive devices, trained teachers, and consistent feeding, opportunity remains theoretical.
By making education free, the government is saying: your ability, background, gender, or circumstance will not determine whether you learn.
That is the core of a republic that claims to leave no one behind.
There is a moral case.
A nation is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable.
When we educate a child with disability, we affirm their dignity. We tell them they belong.
There is also an economic case.
No nation can develop if it fails to carry all its citizens along.
Inclusive education is an investment, not a cost.
Every cedi spent today on a child who learns to read, to code, to weld, or to teach returns multiplied in productivity tomorrow.
An announcement is the beginning, not the end —to ensure GH¢100 million translates into real change in classrooms.
Free tuition means nothing if teachers are not equipped. We must urgently scale up training in Braille, sign language, inclusive pedagogy, and the use of assistive technology.
Schools need screen readers, hearing aids, mobility devices, and adapted curricula.
The GH¢100 million must cover not just feeding, but learning.
Many districts have no integrated facility.
New classrooms, dormitories, ramps, accessible toilets, and safe transport must be part of the plan.
Existing schools must be rehabilitated to meet universal design standards.
Too many children with disabilities are still hidden at home due to stigma, poverty, or ignorance. District Assemblies, CHPS compounds, and traditional leaders must lead a national campaign: “Send your child to school. It is free.”
There is no barrier now.
The Daily Graphic believes that the free special needs education policy is more than a line in the GETFund formula.
It is a statement of who we are as a people.
That every child, in every community, deserves a desk, a meal, a teacher, and a future.
The doors have been opened wide.
Now we must walk through them — government, schools, parents, and communities together.
If we do, then years from now we will look back and say: 2026 was the year Ghana stopped talking about inclusion and started funding it.
And that will be a legacy worth celebrating.
