454 AHMED BAWA KUYINI

publication of a custom book on special needs for teacher training colleges.

The curriculum of the Colleges of Education now includes enhanced special
education content (Fobih, 2008). An analysis of the teacher training curricu-
lum shows that inclusive education is given special attention. During the
second year of the 3-year training programme, content and competencies
related to inclusive education are taught with the framework of a theme
called Educating the Individual with Special Needs. The content of Educating
the Individual with Special Needs focuses on causes of various conditions
and the different categories of special needs such as students with visual and
hearing impairment, physical and behaviour disorders, gifted/talented chil-
dren and intellectual impairment. It also focuses on instructional strategies
that can be used to support such students in special schools and inclusive
settings. However, given the short nature of the course, not all areas are ade-
quately covered and much of the research in Ghana shows that teacher com-
plain about inadequate special education knowledge and skills.

In-service Programmes

In-service training sessions have also been organized for teachers at

national, regional and districts levels by the GES, including the SED and
some NGOs such as the USAID, Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO), Sight
Savers International (SSI) and more recently Visio International from the
Netherlands, which collaborated with the SED to train Special Education
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resource teachers. The most recent and much broader initiative with respect
to addressing quality of teacher training is the collaborative work between
the GES’s Teacher Education Division, USAID, and the two teacher train-
ing universities (University of Cape Coast and the University of Education)
that led to improved special needs content in the teacher training curricu-
lum for pre- and in-service training programmes. An important outcome of
this work is a book, which is now used as a training resource for teachers
across the country.

PERSPECTIVE ON THE PROGRESS OF SPECIAL

EDUCATION IN GHANA

The area of Special education has made great progress in the last decade with
the passing of the Disability Act of 2006 and the recently proposed policy on

Special Education International Perspectives : Practices Across the Globe, edited by Anthony F. Rotatori, et al., Emerald
Publishing Limited, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/capella/detail.action?docID=1780814.
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 Special Education Today in Ghana 455

inclusive education. The focus of special education provision is to cater to the

needs of those with sensory impairment. Students with physical disabilities
are generally educated in the mainstream (MoE, 2008). It is also evident that
no formal special education services are offered specifically to students with
Learning Disabilities (GES, 2004; MoE, 2008). Many inclusive schools are
progressively being established and their development is detailed under inclu-
sive schools.

Special Schools

The broad spectrum of special school provisions includes boarding and day
options. The provision of boarding and day special schools is quite limited
as these schools are few and therefore are not accessible to children who
live far from the towns where such schools are located. As of 2008 the SED
of GES managed the following schools:

• 13 segregated special boarding basic education schools for the hearing

impaired.
• 2 segregated special boarding basic education schools for the visually
impaired.
• 3 units for the visually impaired.
• 12 segregated special boarding schools for the intellectually impaired.
• 23 units for intellectually impaired.
• 3 segregated special boarding secondary/technical/vocational schools for
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the hearing impaired.

• 4 integrated special secondary schools for the visually impaired.
• 3 integrated teacher training colleges for students with disability.

Table 3 shows the special education school enrolment in 2008.

Table 3. Special Education School Enrolments (2008).

Enrolment Male Female Total

Basic level 2,006 1,442 3,498

Second cycle level 148 66 214
Teacher training colleges 26 15 41
Technical/vocational 181 114 293
Special classes 643 401 1,044

Source: MoE (2008).

Special Education International Perspectives : Practices Across the Globe, edited by Anthony F. Rotatori, et al., Emerald
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 456 AHMED BAWA KUYINI

Table 4. Special and Inclusive Schools.

Special and Inclusive schools Number

Special schools for hearing impairment 15

Special schools for visual impairment 2
Special schools for deaf-blind 1
Special schools for students with intellectual disability 11
Unit schools for students with intellectual disability 25
Unit school for visual impairment 4
Integrated senior high school for 6
Inclusive schools for basic education 3
Inclusive schools for colleges of education 3

Current Provisions

Current data from the SED of the GES, displayed in Table 4 indicate that
the following provisions are available to students with special needs in
2012 2013.
The table is evidence that provisions for students with special needs are
increasing in number and breadth to meet the growing demands. The effort
of government has been geared towards not only setting up schools but also
increasing educational access through the building unit schools to serve stu-
dents with special needs. Several international NOGs and Governmental
organizations have supported the drive to provide infrastructure, training
and resources. In terms of infrastructure development to increase school
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access, the most notable government effort has been through the FCUBE
programme and the work of the Ghana Education Trust Fund. In this
regard the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) (re-named German
Agency for International Co-operation in 2011) supported the GES SED to
establish 23 special units and also new classrooms blocks in mainstream
schools in different regions of Ghana to assist the inclusion of students with
intellectual disabilities. In addition, the Government has been active in
developing Technical/Vocational Training streams for students with special
needs. Presently, more than 15 schools at primary and secondary level run
Technical/Vocational Training courses.

Inclusive Education

The further development of inclusive education is hinged on Ghana’s ratifi-

cation of the provisions of the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994), the

Special Education International Perspectives : Practices Across the Globe, edited by Anthony F. Rotatori, et al., Emerald
Publishing Limited, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/capella/detail.action?docID=1780814.
Created from capella on 2020-06-06 04:12:14.
 Special Education Today in Ghana 457

Dakar 2000 recommendations (UNESCO, 2000) and meeting the Education

for All Goals (UNESCO, 1990). As a result, there is a vision and an expec-
tation that by 2015 all mainstream schools will be inclusive in their
approach (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2011a, 2011b). Although there has
been big expansion in the number of inclusive schools to over 900, the GES
states that only 6 of these schools can be said to be well established.
Inclusive schools are set up with variations in terms of special classes
and resource rooms in regular schools, and the use of support teachers in
regular classes. The GES and the SED has developed six models for imple-
menting inclusive education (SED, 2011). The SED outlines the different
models as follows:
Model 1: involves integrating students with low vision and blindness in
mainstream schools with the support an itinerant peripatetic teacher.
Model 2: is a unique model involving the education of students with
visual impairment (Blind) within special schools for the Deaf. Upon
mastery of the some requisite skills the students are moved to main-
stream schools.
Model 3: involves the provision of special units for children with
Intellectual Disability within mainstream schools.
Model 4: are inclusive schools with resource teachers. These schools aim
for full inclusion. The resource teachers collaborate with the regular
teachers and work with students.
Model 5: involves mainstream schools that use inclusive approaches but
without resource teacher support. Such schools use regular classroom
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teachers who implement inclusive teaching interventions in order to

provide the quality teaching that benefit the learning of all students
including those with learning difficulties. It is one of the models aim-
ing for full inclusion.
Model 6: provides hostels for pupils with low vision and blindness that
live far away from mainstream schools that can serve their needs. The
students are given critical skills that allow them to be moved to main-
stream schools (SED, 2011).
Additionally Government is endeavouring to provide qualified teachers
and other resources to service the schools. For example resource teachers
have been posted to inclusive schools since 2008 to support learning of stu-
dents with mild disabilities and learning difficulties. Also cooperation with
several international philanthropic as well as disability focused organiza-
tions such as Sight Savers, VSO, and USAID has led to the injection of
teaching resources into the some special schools. For example VSO

Special Education International Perspectives : Practices Across the Globe, edited by Anthony F. Rotatori, et al., Emerald
Publishing Limited, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/capella/detail.action?docID=1780814.
Created from capella on 2020-06-06 04:12:14.