It has been providing education and training for the deaf, blind and others for 45 years now but lacks a dormitory and learning aids to facilitate easy learning.
The Ashanti School for the Deaf, located at Jamasi in the Sekyere South district of Ashanti region is appealing for support to realise its vision of providing quality training for children with hearing impairment.
Top on the list of its challenges is lack of a dormitory for sight impaired inmates. Headmistress of the school, Vida Aidoo, wants well-meaning individuals and institutions to come to their aid.
She made the appeal when Kosmos Energy, a leading upstream deepwater exploration and production company, donated a 300-bed renovated boys dormitory to the school.
The Ashanti School for the Deaf, established 45 years ago is mainly a boarding institution taking care of children from crèche, primary, junior high, vocational and technical levels of education.
Most of the facilities in the school have seen no facelift since its establishment.
The boys dormitory used to be a dilapidated structure consumed by bedbugs.
The headmistress says they have been battling malaria due to the absence of windows and protective net.
Headmistress Vida Aidoo says they have started admitting a lot of vision impaired but accommodation for male students has become a challenge.
“Aside from the support from Kosmos Energy, we are also appealing for dormitory for the blind inmates including technical tools such as sewing machines, dress and shoe making materials, kente weaving equipment, Perkins Brailler machine among others to enable them function effectively and efficiently,” she added.
Management of the school appealed to Kosmos Energy Ghana, to renovate the boys dormitory for the blind.
The company responded positively with a fully renovated 300-bed dormitory that will accommodate nearly all the 318 male students which is about 52 per cent of the entire student population.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Senior Vice President and Head of the Ghana Business Unit at Kosmos Energy Ghana, Joe Mensah, said it is the firm belief of the company that its support will promote a perfect ambience for social and academic work.
“As part of our support – Kosmos Energy Ghana as a good and committed corporate citizen is offering humanitarian relief to four state schools for students with special needs in Northern, Ashanti, Western and Eastern regions,” he said.
The District Director of Education, George Adu Abrokwa said inadequate teaching and learning aids deprives inmates of the special attention they deserve.
Mr Abrokwa says the district is challenged with infrastructure and furniture deficit, which hinders the quality of education.
Though the district is doing very well academically, the absence of bungalows for teachers is hampering their businesses.
He is, therefore, appealing to cooperate entities for support.
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