The Western Regional President of the Ghana Blind Union, James Osei is bemoaning the lack of braille sheets in various stationery shops nationwide.
Speaking on Empire Fm and Rahio 360 ‘s weekend current Affairs programme , “Western Today ” , hosted by Kwame Malcolm in Takoradi, Mr James Osei who is also a tutor in English and Religious and Moral Education at Archbishop Amissah JHS in Takoradi, revealed that most materials provided by government for various teachers do not make provision for the visually impaired.
“..Ghana here, government provides educational materials for schools but when it comes to the visually impaired their materials like Braille sheets are not available. If you go to the stationery shops you will not even get 1 braille sheet there. No one sells some in Ghana. Even for government, it is a private individual who is collaborating with the National office of the Ghana Blind Union to import some to sell at the rehabilitation centre of the Ghana Blind Union in Accra; the Material Resource Centre in Accra. Apart from that place you will not get our material we (blind) use…. if it happens like that, it makes us lack basic logistics we need and it makes me feel embittered because only a few can afford and the many who cannot are left behind” he revealed.
He further lamented about how in providing teaching aids for teachers, government fails to make provision for Blind teachers like him;
” … I am a teacher but when Government brings some teaching aids, the Blind we are left out. Now we have been provided with lap tops and courses were organised for teachers but when you get to the centre you are not factored in as a Blind person because for a lap top to be efficient to a Blind person there must be a software that can speak yet it is unavailable so the facilitator is helpless so you the Blind person you are left with no option than to leave the workshop. These make me feel embittered that our needs are not considered and the more reason why the United Nations Convention on Persons with Disability has the main theme as “Access ” ; how do we access information, how do we access economic opportunities, it all borders on access.
In Ghana, can many of us the Blind access things that can aid our development? Until that is done, many blind people will not get the opportunity to aspire higher and discover the potential in them” Mr Osei underscored.
He further lamented about how at various capacity workshops for teachers , Blind teachers just go to warm the seat .
“..when the facilitator is projecting for all to watch and referring to the projections without reading , he/she has forgotten a visually impaired person is present and not reading. The machines there do not talk making it like a TV programme with a Blind person being told the number is on the screen. How will the Blind person see the number? he quipped.
He was however optimistic that continuous awareness creation will change the narrative for Blind persons to also access materials in Ghana.
World White Cane Awareness day is commemorated every October 15 to create the necessary awareness on the use of the white cane and its significance.
Kwame Malcolm / Empire Fm / Takoradi
