Public lecture on inclusive education held in Accra

From L-R: Wendy Laryea, Sign Language Expert, Dr Offei-Aboagye, Mad. Gertrude Oforiwa

The second National Public Lecture on Inclusive Education was held today, 1st August 2019, at the executive theatre of TV3 Ghana, Accra, and aired live on TV3 at 10:00 am.

The programme, jointly organized by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) and Media General was on the theme: "Fostering Ownership of The Inclusive Education Policy to Promote Compliance."

The lecture which was moderated by Wendy Laryea of TV3 saw the participations of members of civil society organizations (CSOs), representatives from government agencies, disability advocacy groups and some members of the general public.

Mr Kofi Asare, the Executive Council Chair of GNECC gave the welcome address/purpose of gathering.

Some invited dignitaries who were to speak at the programme but could not make it included Honourable Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Education. He was to give the keynote address and also expound the statement, "Actions Being Taken by Government to Increase the Budgetary Allocation for The Effective Implementation of The Inclusive Education Policy."

Dr Esther Offei-Aboagye,  Chairperson of the Steering Committee of Star Ghana Foundation who was on the panel discussed "How to Strengthen Compliance With The Inclusive Education Policy by Local Government Structures." She mentioned that 'We need to be inclusive even in the approach.'

The second panelist, Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, Global Advocacy Advisor on Social Inclusion, Sight Savers International also talked about "Best Practices In Promoting Inclusion: From National And Global Perspectives." According to her, "Inclusive education is possible, feasible and workable." She touched on how from 1970 to 1975, she benefited from informal inclusive education. "I stress informal because at that time, the policies we're talking about  were non-existing and very few people understood what inclusive education was," she added.

A young lady named Matilda shared her success story on how she has benefited from inclusive education, rising through the ranks to finish senior high school, and looking forward to further her education. Participants in the audience also gave their contributions and asked questions.

The programme ended at close to 12 pm and participants were refreshed thereafter. The background of the programme, including its objectives and expected outcome is given below.

Background 

To enable children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) in Ghana access quality education as guaranteed by Ghana's 1992 constitution, Ghana developed and launched an Inclusive Education Policy in 2016. Three years after, there is very little sign of progress with regard to implementation of the policy. In view of this, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) is implementing a project dubbed "Advancing the Right to Education for Children with Disability in Ghana" with funding support from STAR-GHANA to address challenges facing the effective implementation of the Inclusive Education (IE) policy.

Though GNECC through the project is advocating for an increase in budget allocation for the implementation of the IE policy to 2%, government pledged at the 2018 UK Disability Summit for Inclusive Education to commit the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to progressively increase the budgetary allocations for Inclusive Education, beginning with a 1.5 percent increment in 2019. The Global Disability Summit is a platform that sought to raise global attention and focus on a long-neglected area, mobilize new global and national commitments on disability and showcase good practice innovation and evidence from across the world.

Meanwhile a presentation by the Ministry of Finance at a National Stakeholders' Forum on IE organized under the same project indicated that the budget allocation for the implementation of the Inclusive Education policy has dropped from 0.3 % in 2018 to 0.1 % of the education budget in 2019 instead of the expected increment of 1.5% of the education budget.

Also, most children with disabilities, especially within rural communities are denied access to quality education as a result of inadequate and inaccessible public school infrastructure, information and communication aids Added to this, there are just a few poorly resourced assessment centres to enable early screening, diagnosis and support for children with disabilities. This is compounded by the hiding of children with disabilities from the public eye, labelling and other cultural practices which serve as barriers to the education of children with disabilities.

The importance of full and effective implementation of the IE policy if Ghana Is to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) targets, particularly Goal 4 by 2030 cannot be overemphasized. Currently, the implementation on of the Inclusive Education Policy is largely donor driven and limited to only 20 districts out of 254 districts. This implies that a significant number of children are being left behind and this will continue unless increased commitment is demonstrated by the responsible government institutions.

Furthermore, a consultative meeting held in 6 districts in 3 regions (Greater Accra, Eastern and the Western Regions revealed that about 75% of participants from the District Assemblies do not know about the existence of the Inclusive Education Policy and the Minimum Standards and Guidelines.

This situation and the lack of government commitment does not promote accountability from duty bearers responsible for the effective implementation of the policy. In view of this, GNECC is organizing a public lecture under the theme: "Fostering ownership of the Inclusive Education policy to promote compliance" on 1st August, 2019.

The public lecture is expected to bring experts including State Ministers to present papers on the topic with reference to the following:

• Actions being taken by government to increase budget allocation for the effective implementation of the Inclusive Education policy.
• How government is translating its commitment to fund the effective implementation of the Inclusive Education policy to reality.
• Activities towards promoting the effective implementation of the Inclusive Education Policy and the Minimum Standards and Guidelines at the District and National level by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. 
• How to strengthen compliance to the Inclusive Education Policy by Local Government structures.
• Best practices in promoting inclusion from national and global perspectives. 

Objective 

1. To secure commitment of government to increase funding for the effective implementation of Inclusive Education (IE) policy by end of 2019. 

2. To promote compliance with Inclusive Education (IE) policy in Ghana by duty bearers and stakeholders.

3. To hold duty bearers accountable for the effective implementation of the IE policy.

 4. To engender citizens' responsiveness to the needs of children with disabilities and addressing attitudes and behaviours which reinforce stigma towards vulnerable children, including children with disabilities.

 Expected outcome 

1. More funding made available for the effective implementation of the inclusive education policy through government commitment. 

2. Better compliance with the Inclusive Education policy and the minimum standards and guidelines by duty bearers and stakeholders. 

3. Greater accountability for implementation of the inclusive education policy through citizens' engagement with duty bearers.

Source: TBC