September 15, 2021
By Aruna Kamara in Bo
Civil society activists in Bo district have discovered that there is no provision for the blind students in the ongoing West Africa Senior Secondary School Examination (WASSCE) exams, describing the issue as a total discrimination.
Civil Society activists made this discovery during the monitoring of the on-going WASSCE exam in Bo.
Speaking to this medium, the Bo District Secretary General for Civil Society, Momoh Kamara said that they have engaged the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education in Bo on the plights of the students who are disabled, particular the blind students but they have been instructed by the Deputy Director of Education to put it into writing and forward their concerns to the Ministry for action to be taken.
Mr. Kamara lauded the Deputy Director for his direction in order to look into the concern of the blind students.
He said that the Education Ministry should not only look into addressing the concerns about the WASSCE exam but also blind pupils in schools who are not in public exam classes.
According to Mr. Kamara, schools in Bo do not have provision for the blind pupils in school, adding that they do not have trained and qualified teachers who can teach children with disabilities.
“We have catalogued the concerns of the disables in Bo and presented it to the relevant authorities including the ministry of education for actions to be taken,’’ he said.
He stated the Hope for the Blind, which a civil organization is also part of their monitoring of schools to know the challenges of people with disabilities; has been outspoken about the challenges of the disables not only in Bo but the country as a whole.
Speaking to some blind students in Bo yesterday after WASSCE Exams, they claimed that question are being read to them to be answered and this in fact is making them not to finish on time as it consumes the time allocated to them to finish answering the question.
“The question is not written in braille and is a complete discrimination which is a violation of their rights,” stated Janet a blind student that is writing the WASSCE.