Inclusive Education Policy: Shout Africa Foundation and FOG-Germany partners GES
Shout Africa Foundation (SAF) and its affiliate, Future of Ghana-Germany, have partnered the Special Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), through the Ministry of Education, to implement a pilot capacity building program to train teachers in public schools to effectively teach students with special needs alongside regular students.
Inclusive Education policy provides a strategic path for the education of all children with special educational needs and was formulated based on sections of the 1992 Constitution, the National Development Agenda, the Education Strategic Plan and International Commitments to achieve national as well as international goals for creating an environment for addressing the diverse educational needs of Ghanaians.
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Speaking at the event, President of Shout Africa Foundation, Jimmy Eko-Acquah said, the purpose of this all-important project which will commence officially on October 3, 2021, is meant to improve standards, curricula and a focus on teacher development in the country.
"I am very glad today to mark the beginning of this pilot project. My organization really believes in the educational system of the country and with this program, we hope to improve standards of our schools to accommodate students with special educational needs”, he said.
The President of Future Ghana- Germany, Ms Tanja Scheffler, took the opportunity to call on NGOs, corporate bodies and philanthropists to also lend support to the works of the Education Ministry to promote inclusive education since some teachers and guardians lack awareness and information to handle children with some disabilities making them vulnerable to discrimination.
"I think the time has come to create more awareness, information and patronage of the subject of disability and inclusion in our societies. We need to work hard to erase discrimination among others moving forward", she said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, who represented the Ministry and the Ghana Education Service, GES, lauded the initiative and commended the foundation.
"I am overwhelmed to see an NGO picking up such a challenge to improve our education sector for good. We hope this partnership will go a long way to improve our educational system now and in the future. We are indeed grateful to Shout Africa Foundation".
The program is sponsored by GIZ- CIM in Ghana and will involve professional trainers from both Ghana and Germany who will share knowledge and build a professional training manual.
The program will end with the Inclusion Awareness Festival also known as the TIA Fest, which is slated for October 9, 2021, at the Base Lounge, Cantonments, Accra.
The festival will offer a platform for all stakeholders of education to interact with each other and engage more on inclusive education.
There will also be an exhibition of projects by students with special needs and regular students.