Barely one week after the Ghana Education Service (GES) began the process for the placement of students who passed their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) into Senior High School (SHS), qualified visually impaired students have not yet been placed.
The situation, according to the candidates, has resulted in doubts as to whether they could enter SHS this year or not.
Even though some first-year students have reported to various schools with others going through self-placement, the fate of visually impaired students are yet to determine because authorities have not given priority to their case.
Speaking to the Republic Press, a victim and qualified BECE candidate from Akropong School for the Blind, Master Adjei Boateng Jeremia said “it seems the authorities at GES and CSSPS don’t consider our issue as a priority.”
Master Boateng said “it is interesting that some sighted people have been placed, started schooling while we the disadvantage have to gather money to walk around schools after schools or our parents have to travel to seek schools for us.”
“Every year, this development of no school placement happens but there is no conscious effort by the authorities to address it. We have to walk to GES offices every year or run to the media before our concerns are addressed,” he stated.
“While those who get placement sometimes get schools which doesn’t offer courses for blind students. As we speak, we have Akropong SHS, Ghana National College, Mawuli SHS, Adidome SHS, Wenchi Methodist SHS and Wa SHS that absorbed visually impaired but none of us have been placed”
“So, our questions are that since these schools are there already, why don’t authority select the candidates and give the schools to them manually than waiting on computer selection placement.”
The students are therefore calling for prompt and effective way of resolving the issue considering the peculiar nature of the visually impaired students so they can join their colleges to study.
