Visually impaired students accepted by College

In a landmark decision, the Wesley College ( WESCO) in Kumasi has admitted its first batch of blind teacher trainees after more than eighty since its establishment. The students are five in number, three male and two female.

They were admitted in the first semester in October 2005, and are now in the second semester, offering subjects like Education, Religion, Social Studies, Vocational Skills, English and Arts related subjects. Unfortunately, science and mathematics have not been included.

This information was revealed to me by the Resource Person for the blind trainee teachers, Bede Bugase de Venerable, a professional visually-impaired teacher. Considering how the five blind teacher trainees were adjusting to their new environment, Bede Bugase said they were making friends and getting used to the environment. The layout of the College was "blind friendly" and the other sighted students were of immense assistance to the blind themselves getting used to the newly admitted visually impaired colleagues.

Resource Person Bugase, who has taught previously at the Wa School for the Blind at Wa in the Upper West region, stated that educating the blind was rather expensive. Wesco had not got the total equipment necessary to handle the students. He said, for example, that the college has only a few equipment for teaching the visually impaired. "Even paper has to be bought. Instead of using the brailler, they are making do with the framer and style (pen for writing for the blind).

Bede de Venerable stated also that "government is doing very little towards the education of the physically challenged in general and the situation of the visually impaired is much worse." He further said they the blind pay for the WAEC examinations just like their sighted colleagues but are not supplied with Braille paper but rather have to buy, "this is a case of neglect, injustice and unfair treatment because the Braille paper is quite expensive."

The Principal, B. F. Anyan, said admitting the visually impaired after 84 years and more of the college's existence was done after careful thinking, thorough planning and the need to cater for the blind in the middle-belt region of the country. "Two more untrained teachers who should have been admitted in December 2005 would now be admitted in April 2006. Education for the visually impaired is quite expensive government has adopted a non-challant attitude to their education and so we have to rely on assistance form the outside world mostly.

He enumerated the teaching materials needed as one brailler, five stylos, and hand framers, brailler sheets and Braille stationery for the trainee students. That apart, it would be necessary to expand the Resource Centre at the college with a well-equipped library, a thermophone, which costs thirty-five million cedis, perkins at six million cedis each, grant stapler at thirty-two thousand cedis, perforator at one hundred and eighty thousand cedis and dictionaries.

In a related development, the principal of WESCO has made a passionate appeal to individuals, non-governmental organizations and philanthropists to contribute positively towards education in the college and other institutions of learning with the hope of turning them into places of academic excellence.

In a letter of acknowledgement and gratitude to three NGOs, International Foundation for Federation and Self-Help (IFESH), Ghana, HERSHEY and the World Cocoa Foundation for providing a number of items to enhance teaching and learning in three teacher training colleges in the country, the principal, B. F. Anyan, stated that the items would help the institutions "to expand their Resource Centres which are now places of academic excellence".

The other two colleges are Wiawso Training College in the Western Region and Bechem Teacher Training College in the Brong Ahafo Region. He assured the benefactors that "the items would facilitate teaching and learning not only for staff and students but for basic schools in the neighbourhood especially those in the cocoa growing areas and anyone pursuing academic research." The principal therefore appealed to individuals, NGOs and philanthropists with interest in modern education to furnish the Resource Centre of WESCO with a television set, video desk, camera and power point to enable the college provide quality education to numerous learners.

The items provided to the three colleges included canon photo-copiers, HP DeskJet 3845 hundred and eighty-seven thousand, six hundred and fifty pesewas (¢65,187,650) per set. So far, students of Wesley College have started benefiting from the items, and so have students in schools in the neighbourhood and also farmers. He concluded. "Our staff and students who come from cocoa growing areas go back to put into practice what they have learnt."

So far, apart from the assistance from the three non-governmental organizations, two kids from the United States of America, through their mother, have also donated two cassette recorders and one micro-cassette for the students, promising to assist further in the future. The Government of Ghana releases quarterly, an amount of thirteen million cedis, donors give one hundred and eighty million cedis whilst internally generated funds from the use of the Resource Centre come up to about six million cedis.

Two of the visually impaired students, Fianyo Patrick from Dzodze and Afisatu Adams, both agreed that they were comfortably settled, the lessons were good and enjoyed co-operation from their colleague students, however, they complained that the Resource Centre was not only small but also lacked requisite educational material.

A former accountant and now a blind English teacher at Wesco, Kwasi Subi, had some interesting ideas, English, he said, was his profession and hobby. Subi has so far authored three books in English for students of the language.

He opined that each blind teacher trainee needed to have the brailler instead of the framer. The fact that the college did not have the required teaching material was an impediment to their education and progress. He expressed the hope that one day, the college would have to set up its own Braille press too serve the students, those in the northern part of Ghana and others in the Universities.

He added that the courses should be diversified so that the blind can read both Arts and Science subjects. More than one resource person was required; particularly a House Mother "because a male resource person cannot meet the entire needs of female visually impaired students at the college. A House Mother would be very important and strategic in helping them bath, cook for them and help in other departments."

The former accountant, now teacher and author, quickly pointed out that the current Resource Centre would require more teaching personnel, toilet facilities and a vehicle to case transportation. They would require a vehicle to go marketing and during vacation need to be transported to convenient places to board buses to their respective home-towns. "Above all," Kwesi Subi said, "an exchange programme for the blind in the outside world would be a very big assert an enhancement to their education and progress in life."

In admitting visually impaired trainee teachers. Wesley College has gone a long way to fulfilling the educational and research ambitions and aspirations of students, pupils and the people of the middle-belt region of Ghana, particularly education of the visually impaired. The vision of the college is undoubted and clear: "The College shall stand out as one of the best colleges of education in Ghana, which combines professional training with special training and discipline. The college shall ensure that students on admission are provided with quality education that will enable them to perform credibly in any basic school in the country."

Is education expensive? The saying goes that "if education is expensive, try ignorance." Ghana needs an unrestrained educational package for the physically challenged, especially the blind.