Government to Promote Inclusive Education

The Government is committed to promoting a more Inclusive Educational system to provide learning opportunities for all children, especially those with disabilities.

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, a Deputy Minister of Education, in-charge of Basic and Secondary Education, said Inclusive Education would provide the opportunity for every child, irrespective of the child’s circumstances or conditions, to be part of the mainstream educational system.

He said to realize Inclusive Education requires several factors, such as a conducive school environment, appropriate curricula, child-centered pedagogy, provision of adequate educational resources, support services and community partnerships.

Dr Adutwum made these remarks at the Inclusive Education Ghana Forum, organized by the British Council in Accra.

Ghana’s Inclusive Education Policy is guided by core objectives, including improving and adapting education and related systems and structures to ensure the inclusion of all learners particularly learners with special educational needs.

Others are to promote a Universal Design for Learning (UDL)/learner friendly school environment for enhancing the quality of education for all learners.

The rest are to promote the development of a well informed and trained human resources cadre for the quality delivery of Inclusive Education throughout Ghana and to ensure sustainability of Inclusive Education implementation.

Dr Adutwum said in addition, the standards and guidelines provide guidance to educational institutions and stakeholders in the provision of minimum standards and the design of facilities in terms of physical infrastructure, learning equipment and materials, as well as curriculum and pedagogy to promote Inclusive Education.

He said the policy and its accompanying document sought to create a school environment which was physically safe, emotionally secure and psychologically enabling for all children, including those with special education needs to fully participate in the educational process.

He said the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights had identified access to quality education as a basic right for all children.

He said besides, the right of every child to education was enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and had been reaffirmed by the World Declaration on Education for all.

 

Credit: GNA