General News of Saturday, 29 August 2009

Source: GNA

Annual Conference of Heads of Special Schools ends

Koforidua, Aug. 29, GNA - Conference of Heads of Special Schools (COHESS), on Friday appealed to the Ministry of Education to as a matter of urgency supply the remaining Special Schools with means of transport. The heads also appealed to the Minister of Local Government to direct the Regional Coordinating Councils to liaise with the Metro/Municipal/District Chief Executives to release part of their Disability Common Fund for the development of Special Schools in their respective regions.

These were contained in a communiqu=E9 issued in Koforidua and signed by Mrs Immaculate Atoriyah, chairman, COHESS, after the 29th four-day annual conference.

It appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to release feeding grants to Special Schools at least one week before schools re-open. The communiqu=E9 urged that the existing assessment centres be well-equipped and manned by a Multidisciplinary Team for Diagnostic Assessment and Placement for all children in Special Schools by the Special Education Division.

It appealed to the GES as a matter of urgency to respond to a letter written by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to the Director General of the GES for clearance for Special Schools to use the Low Value Procurement Forms and also initiate training programmes for heads and accountants of special schools.

On sports and culture, the communiqu=E9 urged that sports and cultural festivals should be organized and funded by the GES for all Special Schools.

"Computers and their accessories should also be supplied to all Special Schools by the Ministry of Education as a matter of urgency to facilitate the teaching of Information Communication Technology (ICT)".