The Executive Director of the Ghana Blind Union (GBU), Dr. Peter
\nObeng Asamoah, has appealed to the government to channel more
\nresources into the education of persons with disability in the
\ncountry, especially the blind.<\/p>\n
He stressed that if the country was serious about getting rid of
\nblind beggars from the streets of the cities, then a conscious
\neffort must be made to provide them with the requisite
\neducation.<\/p>\n
“Education remains primary to the success of blind
\npersons in the county, so if we are serious about making life
\nmeaningful for them, we must put our monies where our mouths are,
\nthat is investing in the education of such vulnerable
\ngroup,” he reiterated.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Ghanaian Times newspaper, Dr. Asamoah said even
\nthough over the years blind people have had some sort of education,
\nmuch more could be done to improve their lot.<\/p>\n
He was not happy that there are only two specialised schools for
\nthe blind in the country especially, when the number of blind youth
\nkeeps increasing.<\/p>\n
In addition to this, nearly 80 per cent of the resources for the
\nschools had come from charity, but that should be the priority of
\nthe government and local authorities, he added.<\/p>\n
“Every day we hear people complain of many blind
\npeople on the streets and question what is being done about it. But
\nthe root cause is that if people do not have education and
\nlivelihood, they will do that to survive.<\/p>\n
“What we are saying is that when they are educated,
\nthen they have a greater chance of getting jobs in the future and
\ninstead of becoming liabilities to society, they will become assets
\nand contribute to the building of society and their
\nfamilies,” he emphasised.<\/p>\n
“Dr. Asamoah, who is also blind, said primarily the
\nMinistry of Education due to their peculiar circumstances a lot
\nmore resources would have to be channeled to them to enable them to
\ncompete with their able brothers.<\/p>\n
“Government must ensure that irrespective of the
\ncost, blind children get the best of education they need. I think
\nthere are best forms of technology out there that can make blind
\npeople very efficient and employable in the future,”
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Asamoah said it was important to realise that even though
\nthe government had a responsibility towards persons who were blind,
\nthe families and communities of such persons who form the social
\ncollective also had an obligation to ensure that they got to
\nschool.<\/p>\n
“I have seen parents who because their child or
\nchildren are blind find it rather convenient to dump them in the
\nschools and the schools for the blind struggling to bring them
\nup,” he remarked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Executive Director of the Ghana Blind Union (GBU), Dr. Peter Obeng Asamoah, has appealed to the government to channel more resources into the education of persons with disability in the country, especially the blind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n