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04.12.2009 Social News

Ghanaians should show more commitment towards people with disabilities-Lecturer

04.12.2009 LISTEN
By gna

Cape Coast, Dec. 4, GNA - A senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), on Thursday, noted that people with disabilities could be empowered to contribute positively to the development of the nation.

Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Gyimah, expressed regret that most of the special schools for the disabled in the country lack the basic logistics and materials such as Braille machines, Cubarithm boards and the Job Access with Speech (JAWS) needed to facilitate effective teaching and learning.

JAWS is a software that can be used by the visually impaired and a hearing aid for the deaf.

Dr Gyimah made the call at a durbar organised by the Cape Coast branch of the Ghana Federation of the Disabled to celebrate the International Day for the Disabled.

The theme for the celebration was "Realizing the Millennium Development Goals for all: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world".

He said although the University of Education, Winneba provides training in sign language, the high attrition rate of such teachers did not allow most people with deaf problems to access tertiary education.

Dr Gyimah commended media houses that interpret news in the sign language, saying it helps the hearing impaired to know about current developments.

He called on the government, philanthropists and non-governmental organisations to assist in the procurement of the requisite teaching and learning materials for the disabled.

Touching on the employment of the disabled, he referred to the International Labour Organisation Convention, which stipulates that 0.05 per cent of employees of every state should be persons with disabilities.

He said in Ghana, a cursory look at the list of employees of the National Youth Employment Programme revealed that there was hardly any disabled on the list, contrary to international expectations.

Dr Gyimah said the country should identify the potentials of the disabled and give them the right training and rehabilitation to spare them the agony of having to beg on the streets for a living.

He observed that begging for alms on the streets by persons with disabilities does not augur well for the country's tourism industry.

The Public Relations Officer of the National Health Insurance Scheme for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipality, Mr. Edward Anderson explained that although Act 650 of the scheme makes provision for the free registration of the disabled, in reality it only applies to persons whose disabilities do not enable them to work and have no one to cater for them.

He suggested the need for Ghana Education Service to introduce the teaching of sign language from the basic school level, in order to make communication between the hearing impaired and those with hearing abilities easy.

Mr. Anthony Egyir Aikins, Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive who chaired the function, pledged the assembly's support for the disabled.

GNA

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