US supports visually impaired Ghanaian students with braille learning materials

The United States is donating Braille teaching and learning materials for 1,400 visually impaired Ghanaian students.

The materials were developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Division.  U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Education Office Director Rasheena Reid joined the Honorable Deputy Minister of Education Reverend John N. Fordjour yesterday at the Akropong School for the Blind to officially present 1,400 Braille Teaching and Learning Materials to all nine Special Education Schools that support visually impaired Ghanaian learners.

“Education opens doors for professional, economic, and cultural opportunities. Visually impaired students deserve those same opportunities. We congratulate the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service on its commitment to inclusive education, especially as the Government of Ghana supports the Global Disability Summit,” noted the USAID’s Rasheena Reid.

This collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Education focuses on promoting quality education for Ghanaian children. The “Partnership for Education: Learning” program, also known as “Learning”, partnered with the Ministry to create the materials to help improve the reading performance of visually impaired learners in Ghana.

The Hon. Deputy Minister for Education stressed the importance of inclusive education for all learners. The event took place during the Global Disability Summit.

Sixty-five teachers from the nine special education schools for the blind and selected District Special Education Coordinators will receive training on the use of the materials. The Braille materials will be distributed to nine special education schools supporting the Blind across the country including:

Wa Methodist School For The Blind

Bechem School For The Deaf/Blind

Cape Coast School For The Deaf/Blind

Demonstration School For The Deaf/Blind

Volta School For The Deaf/Blind

Ashanti School For The Deaf/Blind

Three Kings Special School Ghana National Basic Inclusive

Akropong School For The Blind

This activity is part of the Learning T2E Plus program, which supports the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to improve early grade reading of learners in Ghana.  The program has trained over 20,000 teachers and reached over 750,000 pupils from over 5,000 schools across Ghana.