Chance for Childhood (CfC), an NGO working for Inclusive Early Childhood Education, has identified various learning difficulties among 132 pupils in 10 schools in four districts in the Greater Accra region. Out of the number, 37 of them were referred to further assessment at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the Hearing Assessment Centre at Achimota. The screening formed part of its Inclusive Early Child Education (IECE) project among 10 targeted schools in the Accra Metropolis. The IECE project started on a pilot basis in Accra Metro, Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso North, and Ayawaso East districts in 2021 to promote inclusive education for all children, especially those with learning difficulties. Participating schools are Accra Royal Basic School, Sempe 1 Basic School, both in James Town; Nii Kojo Ababio Basic School, A.M.E Zion Basic School, in Mamprobi; St. Francis Xavier R/C Basic School, Maamobi. The rests are Ayebeng Memorial Basic School, Daryl Hijral Islamic Basic School, both in Maamobi, Kanda 1 Basic School, Nima 1 Basic School, and Kotobabi 3 Basic School. Every year CfC organises screening and assessment for Kindargaten One and Kindargaten Two pupils to identify early challenges in visual, hearing, and intellectual learning difficulties. Those identified with such difficulties are referred to special hospitals for further examination and treatment. CfC also provided them with assisted devices and individualise learning support to promote learning for those who have difficulties or challenges. Mr Richard Opoku, a Global Inclusion, and Safeguarding Lead, announced this at a dissemination workshop in Accra. He said the three-year project has trained 900 parents, 40 teachers/ Learning Support Assistants (LSAs), and 600 learners to improve their participation and learning outcomes. He said CfC also provided the participating schools with learning materials to enhance teaching and learning. Mr Opoku noted that training of teachers on Inclusive Education was critical to improving the learning outcome of learners, including learners with Special Educational Needs. He, therefore, advocated for increment in funding for Inclusive Education implementation to cater for training and screening. Mr Opoku mentioned inadequate parental support, teacher transfers, delays from some service providers, and untimely submission of information by some teachers as some of the challenges faced during the project period. Mr Abdul-Ghaffar Adam, the Country Representative of CfC said they were running two projects, namely, Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Best Start. Whiles the ECE project ended in January, the Best Start project would be ending in March, this year. He said the next phase of the project would move across to other schools in their bid to spread their tentacles. Mr Abdul-Ghaffar announced that CfC is also working on a project dubbed 'Outcome Fund Project' in the Northern region to bring back 20,000 School children into the classroom. He said the project is being run in 200 Basic Schools in the Northern reg ion and they have so far enrolled 500 children back to the classroom. He said their doors are opened for future collaborations with NGOs and Civil Society (CSOs) Organisations working in their field. Participants, mostly Directors of Education, Heads of participating schools and officials from Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Education and CSOs commended the complementary efforts of CfC, and urged them to continue the good work to ensure total inclusion. Source: Ghana News Agency Cases of school going- children who lack birth certificates are on the rise, affecting issuance of Unique Personal Identifier (UPI) number, that the government solely recognizes in offering education support. Pokot South Sub-county Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), David Boen, is now calling on parents, to ensure their children are duly registered and issued with a birth certificate for smooth rendering of government services. Speaking during a public participation engagement forum, held at Sekution village in Pokot South Constituency, Boen underscored the importance of a birth certificate in governmental functions, particularly during the enrolment process of children in schools. He informed that registration of children helps in planning for school's capitation by the government. The DCC clarified that in the event of a low number of learners registered with the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS), the government's allocation of funds for educational support, specifically in terms of capitation fee, would also be reduced. 'So, we request residents of Moreso from Sekution location, which is far away from government offices, to come and process birth certificates for their children,'' urged Boen. And in order to support the community in obtaining birth certificates for their children, the DCC proposed coordination with the registration office, on how to take the registration services closer to the community. Salina Cheptoo, the Head Teacher of Sondany Primary School, expressed her concerns regarding the challenges they faced in obtaining funds from the government for school operations. ''The challenges mainly arise due to lack of birth certificates among learners, which is a mandatory requirement for NEMIS registration and subsequent release of funds,'' she said. The Head Teacher said that there are only a few learners at her school who possess birth certificates, while the majority of them do not have the crucial document. ''Around a quarter of the student's population does not po ssess birth certificates,'' Cheptoo said. Therefore, the biggest challenge the school faces is reduction in capitation fee, which the school gets, owing to the small number of children who have been captured by NEMIS because some lack the necessary documentation, she added. Meanwhile, the lack of birth certificates among many children in the region, is primarily attributed to the far-off distant location from the Registrar of Parsons's office, which compel residents to undertake long journeys in order to acquire the crucial government services, including acquisition of birth certificates Cheptoo lamented that accessibility to the Registrar's office is further hindered by the existing poor road network in the area, even the number of individuals in search of birth certificates in the region continued to increased, leading to a significant backlog at the local registration office. ''Some residents have actually lost faith in the entire tedious process of getting a birth certificate,'' noted the Head Teacher . To enable parents to obtain birth certificates for their children without having to travel for undue long distances, Cheptoo is now urging the Kenya Kwanza government to delocalize the process, so as to ease congestion at the County Headquarters. Source: Kenya News Agency
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