NEWS ARCHIVES

Mr. Stephen Nketia- a member of Ghana Association of Blind (GAB) education committee and Mr. Jacob Adongo- the president of the youth branch of the association have urged the government to take a lead in the crusade for inclusive education and employment of persons with disability.

This was the key message at the GAB press conference held on 30th June 2009 at the Accra Rehabilitation Centre. In his introductory speech, Mr. Stephen Nketia said the disability movement in conjunction with Special Education Division of Ghana Education Service and RAVI has designed an all inclusive education formula for persons living with disabilities in the mainstream education sector where pupils/students with a disability can learn and socialize with their counterparts.“Inclusive education and employment for the visually-impaired is a pre-requisite for the mainstreaming of disability into national development”, noted Mr.  Nketia.

Mr. Jacob Adongo, the president of the youth wing of GAB identified unemployment as a global problem but he reiterated the need for the youth of GAB to gain more employment opportunities since they are mostly affected. “About 85% of GAB members are unemployed while 90% are living in abject poverty”. Mr Adongo further noted that the resources allocated for the education of the blind are often inadequate. Mr. Adongo cited teaching as the highest occupation that most blind men and women and emphasized the need for diversification.

He therefore called on the government, stakeholders and other benevolent individuals to come to the aid of the blind to help reduce unemployment and poverty among the visually impaired youth.