Following Daily Graphic's report on hearing-impaired students - Institutions pledge support
There is seeming hope for a 25-year-old nursing student with hearing impairment in the Community Health Nursing Training College (CHNTC) in Tamale in the Northern Region who was on the verge of giving up on her dream of becoming a professional nurse as a number of institutions have made enquiries to assist her.
Following the Daily Graphic's report on Monday, May 24, 2021, some institutions, including the Zongo Development Fund, have reached out to Ms Issahaku Zakia pledging to support her.
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However, none of the institutions so far has yet fulfilled its pledge, but some have initiated the processes to support. Others have also pleaded anonymity.
Ms Zakia, who is a second-year nursing student, told the Daily Graphic that "a lot of organisations have contacted me to assist but I haven't received anything yet. The Zongo Development Fund has sent me a form to fill and resend to access the funds".
Plight
The Daily Graphic, in its Monday, May 24, 2021 edition of the publication, highlighted the plight of the 25-year-old student with hearing impairment who had defied all odds and was currently studying for a Diploma in Nursing at the CHNTC in Tamale.
Not even her disability and challenges have stopped her from pursuing her dream of becoming a professional nurse to be able to serve persons living with hearing impairment.
She completed the Mampong-Akuapem Senior High School for the Deaf in 2018 with flying colours.
Ms Zakia’s dream of becoming a nurse began after the CHNTC offered her admission to study Nursing in the school in 2019 following an impressive performance she displayed during an interview session.
However, her predicament started after her admission to the school as she continued to struggle with her studies because of the lack of an interpreter to regularly interpret the lectures during lessons.
The school has no sign language interpreter to help students with hearing impairment during lessons, and the hearing-impaired student is unable to afford the service of a permanent interpreter to regularly assist her.
Ms Zakia, whose parents are petty traders, managed to hire the service of an interpreter for only the first year, but are unable to sustain the financial commitment in paying for the services of the interpreter throughout the three-year programme.
Challenges/appeal
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview, the second-year nursing student said she had refused to allow her disability put an impediment on her way to realising her dream of becoming a professional nurse.
"I don’t want to be a burden on society, so I am determined to make it, but the lack of an interpreter is making learning very difficult for me even though I am brilliant and have interest in becoming a professional nurse.
“Because I am not able to pay the interpreter, he is now volunteering and does not come always. Anytime we have lectures and he is absent, it means that I can’t take part in that lesson,” she noted.
She said aside from the lack of an interpreter, she was also unable to pay her fees and had no hope of raising the fees for the rest of the academic years, adding that she did not have a laptop too which was affecting her studies.
The hearing-impaired student appealed to the government, benevolent organisations and philanthropists to come to her aid to enable her to realise her dream and contribute her quota to national development.
Disability Act
Although many persons with disabilities are often marginalised or discriminated against in almost all levels of national development, especially in the education sector, Ms Zakia has defied the odds to become relevant to society.
The Ghana Persons with Disability Act 2006, Act 715 provides for all Ghanaians living with any form of disability the right to health care and medical treatment. However, access to quality health care continues to be a major challenge.
It states that, “The Ministry of Health shall include the study of disability and disability-related issues in the curricula of training institutions for health professionals to develop appropriate human resources to provide general and specialised rehabilitation services. The Ministry of Health shall include education on disability and disability issues in healthcare programmes.”