The acting Head of the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development for the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region, Na-Afua W. Gbeney, has appealed to parents and guardians of children with special needs not to keep them at home but to enrol them in formal education.
She stressed that these children have unique ways of learning and could make meaningful contributions to society.
"Gone were the days when children with special needs were hidden in rooms at home. In fact, those days are gone as there is provision for them in the present system of education.
Some of them are performing out there with skills they have acquired from formal education", Mrs Gbeney explained.
She made the appeal when the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly, led by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Francis Akumatey Addo, in collaboration with the Social Welfare and Community Development Department, presented some items to the children with special needs of the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly Basic School at Somanya, the municipal capital.
The items, which included students' mattresses, exercise books, detergent, assorted soaps, pencils and other stationery, were intended to support teachers in promoting quality teaching and learning for children with special needs.
Community engagement
She said issues of children with disabilities came to their attention in the municipality, especially the Yilo State School during school and community engagements on child protection a few months ago.
"We witnessed the realities on the ground during our visit to the Yilo State School.
The teachers highlighted a number of challenges, including unconducive classrooms without ceiling fans, the lack of special urinal and toilet facilities, and other pressing needs.
These challenges prompted the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development to support the school in applying to the Municipal Assembly for assistance," she said.
She said her department was ready to help children with special needs in all the schools and communities in the municipality, but there was a need to enrol them as they had talents they could exhibit to help themselves and society in general.
The MCE, Mr Addo, lauded the management of the Yilo State Municipal Assembly Basic School for having a department that takes care of children with special needs, emphasising that everybody, including the children with special needs, would perform well provided they were taken care of.
" We have part of the common fund that belongs to people with disabilities, and as an assembly, we are solely committed to using their portion of the common fund for their needs and development.", Mr Addo added.
Sporting activities
The MCE was happy that the children with special needs in the Yilo State Basic School were going to represent the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region in sporting activities at Takoradi in the Western Region, adding, "This shows that they have something in them to offer Yilo Krobo, Eastern Region and Ghana as a whole in the near future".
The MCE, as part of the items presented, added an undisclosed sum to cater for part of their expenses to Takoradi.
Mr Addo urged the media and all stakeholders to educate parents and guardians on the need to give their challenged wards formal education.
The Headmistress of the school, Rebecca Enyonam Sottie, thanked the benefactors on behalf of the children and the entire school community for what she described as a surprise visit.
She said the items would assist the school in promoting effective teaching and learning.
"As special children, their needs are also special, and therefore individuals and institutions that are touched by their plight should come to our aid”.
She mentioned their most pressing needs, including toilet facilities and classrooms.
