Category: Education
Created on Wednesday, 12 September 2012 08:32
Published Date
Written by GNA
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Accra, Sept .11, GNA - Mr. Emmanuel K. Sackey, President of the Ghana National Association for the Deaf (GNAD), has called on government to provide sign language interpreters for deaf students in tertiary institutions in Northern Ghana.
He said deaf students in tertiary institutions could not fully participate in academic activities due to the lack of sign language interpreters.
Speaking at a workshop on deaf education, he explained that deaf students in tertiary institutions in the North are currently paying for the services of sign language interpreters aside their tuition fee.
“Disability law 18(A) says that people with disability are entitled to free education, but we pay excess” he added.
Mr. Sackey said that government provides for tertiary students in the southern sector of the country and appealed that it should be extended to tertiary students in the North.
Ms Rosemond Ndama Blay, Director of Special Education Division at the Ghana Education Service (GES), noted that, GES is not responsible for funding tertiary education of deaf students.
She emphasized that the Special Education Division was responsible for only the primary and secondary education of the deaf students.
She said the division could not provide sign language interpreters for the tertiary institutions because they have no statistics on the number of students admitted as tertiary institutions recruit their own lecturers.
Some challenges identified at the workshop included: How to maintain the services of sign language interpreters in tertiary institutions, and how to provide service centres for deaf students in tertiary institutions.
Participants at the workshop recommended that government should provide sign language interpreters for deaf students during interviews and provide scholarship schemes for deaf students as well as creating a policy that will ensure that new tertiary institutions make special provision for all disabled students before they are given accreditation.
They also suggested that the Ministry of Education (MOE) should discuss the grades at which sign language interpreters in tertiary institutions are recruited.
The workshop was attended by executives of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf, representatives from the Ghana Education Service and other disability units.
