Hon. Rachel Appoh: Embrace Persons Living With Disabilities

A Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection and Member of Parliament for Gomoa Central Constituency, Hon. Florence Rachael Appoh has called on the general public to accept into society persons living with disabilities so as to put smiles on their faces. Speaking at an official visit to the Special Schools in Accra over the weekend, Hon. Rachel Appoh believes discriminating such persons would mentally affect their living as well as disturb their education. She said her Ministry in partnership with other Ministries, Government Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations will address challenges facing the schools as well as solve societal problems associated with persons with disabilities. �Quite apart from your educational challenges we know you are also faced with other disability challenges which include discrimination, hearing empowerment gadgets to facilitate your hearing poverty and psychological and emotional problems. All these problems cannot be solved by your school authorities and your parents alone,� she stated. Nevertheless, the Deputy Minister counseled parents not to neglect their disabled children to suffer societal discrimination but rather enroll them in school to learn a trade or be trained for a profitable use as done elsewhere. �Parents need psycho-social counseling to educate them against discrimination. Example, statistics has shown that parents prefer their abled-bodied children to go to school at the expense of a child with disability. ��Again, parents prepare to provide the scarce needs of abled-bodied children in school at the expense of a child with disability,� she said. Adding; �statistics have also shown that persons with disability, with the requisite employable skills are discriminated against in the job market especially in the private sector. However, in the developed countries employers prepare persons with disabilities who have the requisite knowledge and skills to work in their organizations. Disability she said is not inability�. Meanwhile, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection has put plans to train hospital social workers to communicate effectively with people with hearing impairment to access health care in hospitals in Accra. Such service according to the Deputy Minister will be rotated across the country in the future.