Parliament has urged the Finance Ministry to redirect funds from the non-formal education sector to address challenges in Special Education within the country.
The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson voiced dissatisfaction during a debate on the approval of GH¢29.5 billion for the Education Ministry, emphasising the inadequacy of the GHS600,000 funds allocated for special schools such as the Akuapim School for the Deaf and the Akropong School for the Blind.
“Even though the ministry has been allocated GH¢29.5 billion, only GH¢673,429 under 1 million has been allocated to special education. Mr Speaker, special education is something that we need to take quite seriously as a country.
“I think that it is something that we should be interested in and get the Ministry of Finance to do some reallocation. So that schools for the deaf and other special education will be covered. Because less than 1 million is being allocated for special education.” He said.
The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, also echoed these concerns and appealed to the government to prioritise special education.
“I don’t want to believe that it is a typo error. We need to spend more on the special schools, not the non-formal education. So I will want to plead that if we can do a reallocation from the non-formal education to the special schools, it should be done,” he said.
