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Currently, there are more than 30 per cent Ghanaian children with disabilities who are not enrolled in school, Sustainable Aid through Voluntary Establishment (SAVE-Ghana) has revealed.

The Tumu based non-governmental organisation also noted that worldwide, more children 89 per cent went to school but that was not the case for children with disabilities.

Mr Moses Batong, Programmes Manager for SAVE-Ghana disclosed this in a press release issued by the organisation to mark the Worldwide Campaign for Children with Disabilities in Tumu in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region.
He said that in the low and middle-income countries, one could hardly find 10 per cent of children with disabilities in school, hence the campaign “to ensure that all children with any form of disability had access to appropriate educational programmes”.

Mr Batong said more than 25,000 primary school pupils in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America would participate in the annual international event “We Ring The Bell” campaign to draw attention to the right to education of children with disabilities who were not able or not allowed to go to school.

He said specifically 560 schools and 100,000 children in the Netherlands and more than 365 schools and 25,000 children in 23 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America participated in the campaign.

He said in Ghana, 16 primary schools participated in the campaign and that SAVE-Ghana marked the day together with pupils of the Tumu United Primary Schools.

The SAVE-Ghana Programmes Manager said these primary school pupils all over the world made as much noise as possible for one minute in their schoolyards, using bells, drums and others to attract the attention of policy makers and other stakeholders who were in the position to make and influence policies that would help eliminate the barriers that prevented children with disabilities from going to school.

“We Ring the Bell” is an initiative of the Dutch Liliane Fund and SAVE-Ghana is the local collaborator in Ghana.
With support from the organisation, SAVE-Ghana supported a number of children with disabilities to access education and other economic ventures.

Mr Batong said much however needed to be done in Ghana and throughout the world, adding that schools needed to become more accessible for children with disabilities.

“Teachers and teaching materials must meet the needs of these children. Everyone should become aware of the fact that education is a fundamental right for all including children with disabilities”, he said.