CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

            Background of the Study

The notion of inclusive education as a fundamental human right for persons with disabilities has been pronounced in a number of treaties and international legal frameworks. For instance, the UNESCO convention against discrimination in education enacted in 1960 was the first legally binding international instruments that categorically laid down core elements that forbade any form of discrimination in education service delivery and exposed the principle of equality of educational opportunities (UNESCO, 2015). In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989) specifies in article 23 that, “state parties shall encourage and ensure extended assistance that shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education and training.”

Moreover, Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disability (2006) demands countries to ensure an inclusive education system without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity and that children who have disabilities are not left out of the Free, Compulsory and Universal primary or secondary education. They are to have access on an equal basis with others in the community they live. In order to rectify such international conventions, efforts have been put in place to integrate students with special needs into the regular school system by many countries, such as Bahrain, France, Georgia, Estonia, Germany, Iraq, Nauru, Morocco, New Zealand, Serbia, Poland and Sri Lanka (UNESCO, 2015).

Access to quality education by persons with disabilities has been known as both fundamental human right and very essential in terms of poverty reduction, resolving inequality and achieving other goals of development (Banks & Zuurmond, 2015). An inclusive education

offers a lot of advantages to its beneficiaries. While being the key means to putting persons with disabilities on equal footing with persons without disabilities, it also promotes diversity within educational institutions as well as creates social bonds between the disabled and non- disabled (Ebersold, Schmitt, & Priestley, 2011). As specified in the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (2006), and various national legislative instruments in Ghana, like the Education Act 778, (2008) and the Disability Act 2006 (Act 715), access to education that is inclusive improves the employment and working opportunities of persons with disabilities in mainstream society. Since the lack of education often thwarts young people with disabilities’ effort at entering the job market thereby becoming a burden to the society at large, it is in the economic interest of society to ensure that persons with disabilities have quality education in order that they can become active and effective members of the labour force as they grow up (UNICEF, 2012).

In 2006, the Parliament of Ghana enacted the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715). This provided a legal framework for addressing issues related to persons with disability in Ghana. The Act sought to fulfil a constitutional obligation requiring the enactment of laws for the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities. It was also to fulfil Ghana’s obligations to the international community. The mandate of the Act as stated in the preamble is “to provide for persons with disabilities, establish a National Council on Persons with Disabilities and to provide for other related matters” (Act 715; Kassah, Kassah & Agbota, 2012). Some of the areas covered by the Act include the “right to family life and the right to participate in social, creative or recreational activities; the prohibition of differential treatment for residential purposes, the right to the same living conditions as persons without disabilities when persons with disabilities are placed in special institutions; no exploitation, abuse, discrimination or disrespect for persons with disabilities, appropriate facilities when involved in court proceedings; and access to public places” (Act 715, p. 1).

As a constitutional mandate, the Act provided some considerable legal backing to Ghana’s Inclusive Education (IE) initiative. The Disability Act made provisions to enhance the educational attainment of persons with disabilities in an environment that is enabling and dignifying (Republic of Ghana, 2006; Agbenyega, 2006). Specifically, the Act seeks to do the following: Section 16 (1) of the Disability Act (2006) imposes the obligation on parents, guardians or custodians of a child with disability of school going age to ensure that their children are enrolled in a school. A legal penalty is imposed on the default of the above Section. The Act states in Subsection 2 of Section 16 that “any parent, guardian or custodian who contravenes this subsection (1) and commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten penalty units, or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding fourteen days” (Act 715, p. 6). This provision is directed at ensuring that every child, especially those with disabilities is granted the same educational right, irrespective of their health status.

When discriminatory attitudes are put up by teachers when handling students with disabilities, such as the use of derogatory statements like “mumu” translated “deaf child,” the Act empowers the heads of institutions to apply disciplinary measures; this is also applicable in situations where employees of the school maltreat a person with disability (Kassah, Kassah, & Agbota, 2012). As a preventive mechanism however, the Ghana Education Service over the years have trained teachers in sign languages and management of disability issues in the classroom. Section 21 of the Disability Act charges the Minister of Education to ensure that a public technical, vocational and teacher training institutions are designated in each region and shall have in their curricula special education, for Braille writing and reading, and Sign language. The Ministry of Education is equally making strides in reducing the number of students per class, especially in the event that a PWD is in the class. This initiative is intended to reduce the burden of work on the teacher so as to give teachers enough freedom to attend to the special needs of the person with disabilities, and to further the course of the IE policy in Ghana (Tuakli-Wosornu, & Haig, 2014).

In Ghana, every citizen has the right to education. Every child, disabled and non-disabled alike have legal right to enjoy education as far as practicable. The Inclusive Education Policy describes the strategic policies of the government of Ghana towards the provision of education for all children that have special educational needs. It is a reflection of provisions in the 1992 Constitution, the Education Strategic Plan, National Development Agenda. Again, it reflects Ghana’s Commitment to the international community as well as national targets for creating an environment that creates and assures equal educational opportunities for all Ghanaians. Other educational policies that facilitated the provision of free basic education to PWDs include the Free Compulsory Basic Education (FCUBE), the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the School Feeding Program, and the maiden Free Senior High School.

As part of the goals of the inclusive education policy, education is considered to have the potential to contribute towards the breaking of the relationship that exists between disability and poverty (Croft, 2012), because it restores the impaired capacity of persons with disabilities to contribute effectively for their lives. It is against the backdrop that this study sought to explore how the implementation of the Disability Act has contributed in ensuring inclusive education of persons with disabilities in La Nkwantanang-Madina.