‘More than 2m Ghanaians have varying degrees of disability’

 More than 2 million Ghanaians, aged five years and above, have varying degrees of difficulty in performing daily activ­ities, Professor Samuel K. Hayford of the University of Education, Winneba, has disclosed.

He said the figure, pegged at 2,098,138, represented a higher prevalence among females (8.8 per cent) compared to males (6.7 per cent), according to data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

Visual impairment remains the most prevalent form of disability in Ghana, affect­ing 4.6 per cent of males and 4.0 per cent of females nationwide.

The Professor of Special Education presented the data at the 42nd Annual Workshop in Accra for Heads of Special Schools, on the theme: ‘Inclusive Education in Ghana: The Role of Spe­cial Schools.’

He said the GSS 2021 report revealed that 150,000 persons aged five years and above had severe to pro­found disabilities, including non-expressive communica­tion (17,577), self-neglect (28,598), unintelligible speech (15,196), immobility (33,778), deafness (19,448), and blindness (35,642).

“Five of Ghana’s 16 re­gions – North East, Bono, Western North, Savannah, and Oti – lacked special education facilities such as special schools or resource and assessment centres,” he noted.

In addition, four districts; Gushegu (59.4 per cent), North Gonja (55.8 per cent), Central Gonja (54.0 per cent), and Karaga (51.9 per cent), had more than half of all children aged five to 15 years who had never been to school.

Prof. Hayford said Ghana’s 2015 Inclusive Education Policy defined inclusive education as “a system that accommodates all learners, irrespective of their phys­ical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other conditions.”

He likened the role of special schools in education to intensive care units in health facilities, indicating that while inclusion was key, there would always be a need for specialised insti­tutions to support learners with profound and pervasive needs.

Prof. Hayford, however, pointed out several im­plementation challenges, including negative societal attitudes and stigma, gaps in teacher training, limit­ed resources, inadequate teaching materials, assistive technology, and infrastruc­ture deficits.

“Many mainstream schools still lack accessible buildings and facilities, while class­rooms are overcrowded, and there are inadequate assessment centres and professionals to identify and support learners with dis­abilities,” he explained.

To address the gaps, Prof. Hayford proposed increased investment in special schools to enable them to support mainstream schools in meeting the needs of learners with disabilities. —GNA