Children with Learning Difficulties inPublic Basic Schools in GhanaA study involving local stakeholders in GreaterAccra Region December 2011 Special Attention Project PrefaceThis survey was funded by Disability Rights Fund (DRF), USA.Special Attention Project (SAP) likes to thank DRF for theircontinued support to promote the Convention on the Rights ofPeople with Disabilities, implementation of which would greatlybenefit children with specific learning disabilities in Ghana.SAP is also grateful to Emmanuel Anguah Afriyie, Mumuni Abdul-Karim, Edmund Kwame Botchway, Ishmael Hammond and EdwardOsae Amoako who carried out the data collection. SummarySpecial Attention Project (SAP) explored the situation of childrenwith learning difficulties in public basic schools in the GreaterAccra Region of Ghana. Findings are that teachers and otherstakeholders do identify children who have specific learningdifficulties, but knowledge levels on Specific Learning Disabilitiesand relevant legislation and policies is low. 2Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Table of Contents 2 2Preface 4SummaryIntroductionPart I Context and Outline 5 51. Context 61.1 Special Education in Ghana 71.2 Specific Learning Disabilities 71.3 Disability Act 81.4 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities1.5 Education Act 91.6 Education Strategic Plan 2010-2020 92. Outline of this study2.1 Aim and coverage2.2 MethodologyPart II Data1. Children with learning difficulties in Public Basic Schools ... 102. Knowledge on Specific Learning Difficulties .................................... 133. Knowledge on (legal) provisions for children with learningdifficulties ...................................................................................................................... 174. General conditions in the schools with regard to children withlearning difficulties..................................................................................................... 215. Assistance to pupils with learning difficulties ................................ 22Conclusions 25Recommendations 26 3Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com IntroductionSpecial Attention Project (SAP) became operational in 2008, inresponse to findings that a lot of children who live in the streetsof Accra face severe difficulties when they are integrated backinto mainstream education. A significant number of children whomake a living in the streets have been to school in the past, butdropped out because they found it difficult to keep up with thecurriculum. These children are commonly called ‘slow learners’.SAP operates an educational centre for out-of-school children atKaneshie. Nearly all children who participate in the EducationProgramme show typical symptoms of Specific Learning Disabilities(SpLD). Children are given individualised education (reading, writing,mathematics) whereby their learning programme is adjusted toindividual abilities and learning style. Still, progress is slow and formany children re-integration in the mainstream is no immediateoption.In order to help prevent more children from coming to the streets,SAP initiated research and advocacy on children with learningdifficulties in Ghana. There is little information about this group.SAP found that among the parents and former teachers of thechildren awareness on this issue is generally low. Learningdifficulties and behavioural problems are often attributed tospiritual causes.SAP also trains Resource Teachers (Special Needs Teachers) ofthe Ghana Education Service. Resource Teachers are posted atDistricts and Clusters of basic schools to support pupils withspecial educational needs. Their professional training did often notinclude Specific Learning Difficulties, while in mainstream schoolsthey encounter many pupils who express the signs and symptoms.This study was carried out as part of SAP’s effort to fill in theinformation gap on children with learning difficulties and toidentify key areas for awareness creation, advocacy and training. 4Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Part I Context and Outline1. ContextThis section provides a brief overview of Special Education inGhana and legal provisions concerning children with SpecificLearning Difficulties.1.1 Special Education in Ghana‘Special Education’ has been a reality in Ghana for many decades.There are schools for children with visual impairment, hearingimpairment and intellectual impairment, managed by the SpecialEducation Division (Sp.Ed.) of the Ghana Education Service. Morerecently, ‘Inclusive Education’ has been adopted by GES, meaningthat children with special educational needs should not beseparated from other children but that they should learn togetherwhenever possible. Sp.Ed. has now posted ‘Resource Teachers’ todistricts and clusters of schools in five (5) regions; their mandateis to assist children with special educational needs in themainstream schools.‘Special Education’ in Ghana was and still is strongly focused atthe ‘traditional disabilities’ (sight, hearing, intellectual and physical).Special Education Teachers are trained to teach pupils with any ofthese disabilities, and programme areas of Sp.Ed. are accordingly.Children with normal intelligence but a learning difficulty in aspecific area (for example reading or mathematics) are notformally recognised as children with special educational needs andthere are no provisions for assessment and support.1.2 Specific Learning DisabilitiesSpecific Learning Disabilities (SpLD) refer to learning difficulties ina specific area; for example reading or mathematics. Theindividual has no particular problems in other areas: a child witha mathematics disorder may perform well in reading. It istherefore fundamentally different from intellectual disabilities 5Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com whereby the intelligence level of an individual is below average,affecting all learning abilities.Specific Learning Disabilities include: Dyslexia: difficulty in reading, writing and spelling; Dysgraphia: difficulty in writing; Dyspraxia: motor difficulties; Dyscalculia: a difficulty performing mathematical calculations; Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD): concentration difficulties with heightened activity levels and impulsiveness; Asperger’s syndrome and Autism: social communication difficulties;There are very few possibilities for screening and testing on SpLDin Ghana. The Ghana Education Service (GES) does not have thefacilities to screen or test. As a result, there is not muchinformation on children with Specific Learning Disabilities in Ghana.Statistics from other countries however suggest that up to 10% ofchildren in any population have a specific learning disability.1.3 Disability ActIn 2006 the Disability Act (Act 715) was approved by Parliament,after years of lobbying by the disability movement. The Actprovides for Persons with Disabilities in the areas of employment,education, health care, transportation, justice administration, andaccess to public places. It also provides for establishment of aNational Council for persons with Disabilities, which wasestablished in 2009.The definition of ‘disability’ in the Act is a general descriptioncovering ‘physical, mental or sensory impairment’, and specifies‘visual, hearing and speech disability’. This does not clearlyinclude persons with specific learning difficulties.The Act does provide for free education for children withdisabilities, but rather focuses at designates schools in eachregion which provide the necessary facilities for persons with 6Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com disabilities. The Act also mentions that the government shouldestablish special schools for individuals whose disability makes itimpossible to be in mainstream schooling. Admission in schoolmay be refused when a child is assessed and found to be inneed of special schooling. These provisions do not promoteInclusive Education.1.4 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesAt the time of this survey, the Government of Ghana had ratifiedthe UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(CRPD) but had not yet signed it. Civil Society Organisations werethen busily campaigning to get it signed. The Convention outlinesobligations of governments towards citizens with disabilities, andprovides a rights framework. As a legal document it is moreextensive and comprehensive than the Disability Act. A significantdifference is that the Convention includes ‘intellectual impairment’in its definition of ‘disability’. It also emphasises the right ofchildren with disabilities to access education on an equal basiswith other children, in the community in which they live.Governments who sign up to the Convention commit themselves toproviding support to facilitate effective education of children withdisabilities within the general education system.1.5 Education ActIn the Education Act 2008 (Act 778) Article 5 captures ‘InclusiveEducation’ and states that ‘design’ and ‘infrastructure’ of schoolsneed to be disability friendly. Parents should take a child with adisability to school. And the last provision is a definition of‘Inclusive Education’, which speaks of a value system which holdsthat all persons who attend an educational facility should haveequal access to learning, which transcends the idea of physicallocation but promotes participation, friendship and interaction.The obligations of the education system as described here seemto be restricted to (physical) infrastructure, and are not specifiedin terms of learning support that should be provided in order toachieve ‘equal access to learning’. Though ‘screening of allchildren on admission’ is stated as a duty of the Education 7Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Service, it does not specify what children are to be screened for.It is unclear whether this includes learning disabilities.1.6 Education Strategic Plan 2010-2020In the Education Strategic Plan 2010-2020 the guiding principlesfor education for children with disabilities have been formulatedas follows:The delivery of education to young people with disabilities and specialeducational needs is informed by three guiding principles:- The right to education- The right to equality of educational opportunities- The right and obligation to be included in and participate fully in theaffairs of societyThe Strategic Goal is:Provide education for excluded children (including those who arephysically and/or mentally impaired or disabled, slow/fast learners,orphans, young mothers, street children, those from deprived areas, slumchildren, and poverty victims) by including them, wherever possible,within the mainstream formal system or, only when considerednecessary, within special units or schools.Strategies include:1. Include disadvantaged children within the existing education systemor provide special facilities for them.2. Include all children with non-severe physical and mental disabilitieswithin mainstream institutions.3. Provide special schools or education units for those severely disabled.The Strategic Goal seems much more ‘Inclusive’ than any of thecurrent legal provisions, by emphasising inclusion in themainstream. It also mentions ‘slow / fast learners’, which refersspecifically to (dis)abilities related to learning. 8Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com 2. Outline of this study2.1 Aim and coverageThis study explores conditions in public basic schools in theGreater Accra Region concerning children with learning difficulties.Specific questions that were explored:- Do Teachers and Parents recognise learning difficulties in pupils?- What are knowledge levels of Teachers and Head teachers onlegal provisions and policies relevant to children with learningdifficulties?- What are views of parents and other stakeholders in publicbasic education on how children with learning difficulties can besupported?2.2 MethodologyThe data collection was carried out by five (5) research assistantswho first received training on:- The legislative and policy documents which were subject to thisstudy;- Specific Learning disabilities in children.Majority of data collectors had been part of a previous researchby SAP and are familiar with the organisation and it aims.Thirty (30) basic schools were selected in the Greater Accraregion, spread over nine (9) of the ten (10) districts. Selection wasbalanced in terms of urban / rural and in terms of provisions bythe Ghana Education Service (especially the presence / absenceof a Resource Teacher). In each school, the Head Teacher, one(1) Teacher, one (1) parent, one (1) representative of the ParentTeacher Association and one (1) representative of the SchoolManagement Committee was interviewed. Data collectors usedquestionnaires to structure the interviews and to record answers.Previously, permission to carry out this survey was applied for andgranted by the Greater Accra Regional Director of GES. 9Special Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Part II Data1. Children with learning difficulties in Public BasicSchoolsTeachers and Head teachers were asked if they have beenteaching children with specific learning difficulties. Majority (about75%) claim they have:3.1. Have you been teaching a child with specific learning difficulties?Parents, PTA members and SMC members were asked if theyknow a child who has specific learning difficulties:3.2. Parents: do they know a child with specific learning difficulties?Special Attention Project 2011 10 LD in public education www.sapghana.com 3.3. PTA Members: do they know a child with specific learning difficulties?3.4. SMC Members: do they know a child with specific learning difficulties?Majority of respondents answered in the affirmative. They werethen asked to mention characteristics of the children with learningdifficulties they knew.3.5 Characteristics of children with learning difficultiesSpecial Attention Project 2011 11 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Respondents clearly recognised behavioural and social problems inchildren with learning problems. Inattentiveness and lack of self-organisation stand out, while inappropriate social behaviour andimpulsiveness are also seen as common characteristics. Otheranswers point at problems children with learning problems have inrelation to their peers, as well as shyness.Teachers and Head Teachers were asked if, in the course of theircareer, they had seen children with learning difficulties drop outfrom basic school. Here we see a significant difference betweenthe answers of Teachers and the answers of Head Teachers:The difference can be explained by the fact that Head Teachersare privy to the entire data on attendance in the schools asagainst the individual attendances that the individual Teachershave access to.One Head Teacher declined to answer. Of the remainingrespondents nearly 50% confirmed that they had witnessedchildren with specific learning difficulties stop schoolingprematurely.Special Attention Project 2011 12 LD in public education www.sapghana.com 2. Knowledge on Specific Learning DifficultiesProfessional respondents (Teachers and Head Teachers) wereasked to mention types of Specific Learning Difficulties. The tableshows the responses: 2.1 Types of Specific Learning DifficultiesRespondents also mentioned general disabilities, which are notspecific learning difficulties: Hearing Impairment (9) and VisualImpairment (11). Hearing and visual impairments are not specificlearning difficulties, though they could contribute to theaggravation of specific learning difficulties e.g early age hearingproblems could contribute to poor reading and writing skills.One respondent said: ‘Students engage in trading activities andbecome too tired to concentrate’.Correlation between this question and the question whetherrespondents have been teaching a pupil with a learning difficultyis as follows:Special Attention Project 2011 13 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Head Teachers who have taught child with SpLD Head Teachers who have not taught child with SpLD Teachers who have taught child with SpLD Teachers who have not taught child with SpLDTeachers who 4 2could notname anySpLDTeachers who 3 21did name atleast oneSpLD Head 4 2 Teachers who 4 20 could not name any SpLD Head Teachers who did name at least one SpLD2.2 Correlation between teaching and knowledgeThe high correlation between teachers who could name at leastone Specific Learning Disability and those who have taught a childwith a learning disability, does indicate two things: that teacherswho receive some level of knowledge on Specific LearningDisabilities are better able to identify and offer help to childrenwith learning difficulties. It does also indicate that Teachers whoin their practice identify that some of the children perform belowthe class average in specific areas of learning, are able to put aname to it when the details about the same are revealed. Thesame applies to the Head Teachers who could name at least oneSpecific Learning Disability and those who have taught a childwith learning disabilities.(Head) Teachers who could not name at least one SpecificLearning Disability and those who have not taught a child withlearning disabilities does not in any way suggest that these (Head)Teachers never had a child with Specific Learning Disabilities inSpecial Attention Project 2011 14 LD in public education www.sapghana.com their class, but rather goes to confirm the conviction thatknowledge about Specific Learning Disabilities and aconsciousness to identify and help pupils who perform below theclass average, play complementary roles in identification ofSpecific Learning Difficulties.Respondents were then asked which type of learning difficulty theyhad encountered in their pupils.2.3 Types of Learning Difficulties encountered in pupilsAgain, Hearing Impairment (12) and Visual Impairment (10) werementioned as specific learning disabilities.Teachers and Head Teachers were asked if they had everreceived any training on children with learning difficulties.Special Attention Project 2011 15 LD in public education www.sapghana.com 2.4 Training on learning difficultiesTeachers seem to have been more exposed to training onlearning difficulties. From this data we see that the number ofrespondents who received training is much lower than the numberof respondents who identified children with specific learningdifficulties in their classrooms. This again confirms that teachersare able to identify children who perform below average withouthaving theoretical knowledge on the issue.One of the Head Teachers who answered ‘yes’ had actuallyattended a training programme by SAP.Special Attention Project 2011 16 LD in public education www.sapghana.com 3. Knowledge on (legal) provisions for children withlearning difficultiesTeachers, Head Teachers and Parents were interviewed on theirknowledge of the Disability Act (715); they were asked to mentionprovisions from the Act, which were recorded according tocategory:3.1 Knowledge on Disability ActFrom this table it appears that only 50% of the professionalrespondents (Teachers and Head Teachers) know some content ofthe Disability Act, while randomly selected parents of public schoolchildren hardly know about it.A significant detail is that Teachers seem to know more aboutprovisions for persons with disabilities concerning Education, thanHead Teachers do (16 provisions mentioned against 10).Generally, provisions on access to public places are best known.The following table shows the number of provisions mentioned perrespondent who knew about the Act; this excludes respondentsSpecial Attention Project 2011 17 LD in public education www.sapghana.com who had not heard about the Act or did not know anything aboutthe contents: Teachers (15) Head Teachers Parents (2) Total (32) 0.78 (15) 0.4 0.06Provisions on 0.6 0.8 2.00 0.8Transport 1.09Provisions on 0.53 0.3 0 0.18 0.55EmploymentProvisions on 0.06 0.06 0JusticeAdministrationProvisions on 1.07 0.67 1EducationProvisions on 1.00 1.00 2.50Access to publicplacesProvisions on 0.2 0.13 0.5Medical Care Average3.2 Provisions mentioned per respondent (Disability Act)This shows that respondents who were somehow familiar with theAct averagely could mention less than one provision per category.The same respondents were asked to mention provisions from theUN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD);3.3 Knowledge on CRPDSpecial Attention Project 2011 18 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Comparing this table with the table on the Disability Act it is clearthat knowledge levels on the CRPD are significantly lower. Thepercentage of professional respondents who do not know anythingof the contents is about 66% as against 50%. Two out of thirtyparents knew about the CRPD and could mention some content.Interestingly, Head Teachers score better on knowledge onEducation provisions than Teachers, while for the Disability Act itwas the other way round. Education is also the best knowncategory, as against Access to public places for the Disability Act.The following table shows the number of provisions mentioned perrespondent; excluded are the respondents who did not knowanything on the contents of the Convention. Teachers (10) Head Teachers Parents (2) Total (23) 0.30 (11) 0.34 0.0Provisions on 0.2 0.36 0.5 0.65Transport 0.52Provisions on 0.4 0.36 0.0 0.22 0.34EmploymentProvisions on 0.0 0.0 0.0JusticeAdministrationProvisions on 0.7 0.72 0.0EducationProvisions on 0.6 0.45 0.5Access to publicplacesProvisions on 0.2 0.18 0.5Medical Care Average3.4 Provisions mentioned per respondent (CRPD):The average is lower than for the Disability Act, while the numberof knowledgeable respondents is also lower.Respondents were asked to mention principles of InclusiveEducation as projected by the Ghana Education Service. Thefollowing responses were seen:Special Attention Project 2011 19 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Teachers Head Teachers Total (60) (30) 37 (30) 19All children can learn & benefit 18from educationAll children have right to 10 7 17education & equal opportunities 7 14Children’s view is listened to and 7taken seriouslyIndividual differences are a source 5 6 11of richness and diversity and not aproblemNot heard about Inclusive 9 8 17 22EducationHeard but could not mention 0content3.5 Principles of Inclusive EducationOnly Teachers and Head Teachers were interviewed on this, andabout 1/3 of respondents claim not to have heard about or toknow anything about Inclusive Education. Respondents who werefamiliar with Inclusive Education were strong on the principle thatall children can learn, no matter their disability.Special Attention Project 2011 20 LD in public education www.sapghana.com 4. General conditions in the schools with regard tochildren with learning difficultiesProfessional respondents were asked what materials and resourcesthey had available to teach children who have learning problems.Head Teachers mentioned what was generally available in theschool, while Teachers answered for their own class.4.1 Materials and resources:Answers from Teachers and Head Teachers are more or less thesame, as they are from the same schools. Nine (9) out of thirty(30) schools had a Resource Teacher from the Ghana EducationService.Both groups were interviewed on the Teacher : Pupil ratio.Teachers answered for their own class while Head Teachersanswered for the school.According to Teachers: 1 (one) Teacher forAccording to Head Teachers: 47.87 pupils 45.27 pupilsSpecial Attention Project 2011 21 LD in public education www.sapghana.com 5. Assistance to pupils with learning difficultiesParents, members of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) andmembers of School Management Committees (SMC) wereinterviewed on what the schools should do for children who havespecific learning difficulties.Parents suggested the following concerning cooperation withteachers: Talk to teachers for extra help Both parents and the teachers must help the child to improve on it study capabilities Urge teachers to give more Give special attention with the help of teachers Told teachers to keep an eye on him The school is helping a lot They made the following points concerning their ownresponsibility: Insist on the child to go to school Personal monitoring and teaching Take time to go through everything that was taught in school when she comes home Visit the school often to go through his books with the help of the teacher Solving more work with him Constantly advising her to stay focused Always help by solving more work examples with himOne parent suggested: Corporal punishment.Members of PTA made the following suggestions for teachers: Give more attention to the child. Ask child to answer more questions in class. Give child more work to do. Collaborate with School head.Special Attention Project 2011 22 LD in public education www.sapghana.com Know the particular problems of children e.g hunger because of poverty Give the child extra support Teachers asked to pay attention to such children. Pay attention and give special allocation to such children. Use gestures, pictures and other methods to help. Encourage teachers to pay attention to them since government has not provided enough materials to serve them Pronounce the words so that get the words involve eg phonyms, words with similar sounds Bring the child closer to the board Pay more attention to the child to explain lessons to enable him to understand Write boldly in class Time is taken to go over what was taught to make sure they understand Children with these acts are specially treated from the rest, so that they can be part of main stream Encourage the student to be regular in school and to teach them speciallyConcerning the parents: Talk to parents of such children Advice parents to provide basic needs of children. Give advice to parents to seek medical help Parents are urged to seek help Meeting is held with parents with such wards and to advise them on what to doConcerning Ghana Education Service: GES Resource Teacher helps and parents are encouraged to get personal teachers for children at home Arranged for a GES Resource Teacher to give special classes Most of the time such children are given extra class to improve their learning skillsSpecial Attention Project 2011 23 LD in public education www.sapghana.com And in some cases: Basically nothing because we don’t have facilities PTA is not so strong and so we have not been able to do anything The PTA organised a meeting purposely on how to help such children and a little response was given. So we are on itMembers of SMC’s advised the teachers: Give extra time Ensure that teachers in the classroom make sure that they sit close to the blackboard Writing boldly while teaching so that the child with learning difficulties will understand I personally help them by calling them one after the other to teach them after class. Treatment is given to such children by taking through the learning process step by step Taking them through learning process step by step. Ensure that teachers pay special attention to such children to enable them catch up with their colleagues in the class when given a task Teachers asked to pay attention to such children.Concerning the parents: Parents are urged to seek help Advice is given to parents to help the child to work Invite parents of such children and talk to them for improvement Consult parents Concerning Resource Teachers in the schools: 24 Refer the child to Resource Teacher We have been able to get GES Resource Teacher We have been making request to GES for a specialist teacher Arranged for a GES Resource Teacher to give special classes with the help of the PTA and concerned publicSpecial Attention Project 2011 LD in public education www.sapghana.com School appealing to GES for special needs teacher and trying to procure teaching materials GES resource teacher is available to helpOn extra support: Extra classes needed Special classes is organised to improve their learning skills Support from NGOs (not specified)Conclusions Majority of teachers in public basic schools claim to have taught children with learning difficulties. Majority of parent’s representatives confirm they know children with learning difficulties. Descriptions given by stakeholders do indicate that they correctly identify children with learning difficulties. 75% of Teachers and 80% of Head Teachers confirm they have seen children with learning difficulties drop out from school. Current knowledge on Specific Learning Disabilities is derived from experience in teaching children with SpLD combined with other sources of information (theoretical). Less than 30% of teaching staff is claim they have received training on identification and management of Specific Learning Disabilities. Teacher:pupil ratio is too high to make in-class support for children with learning difficulties a reality without additional resources (esp. teaching assistants). There are limited resources available to teachers to assist children with learning difficulties.Special Attention Project 2011 25 LD in public education www.sapghana.com
Children with Learning Difficulties in Public Basic ...
Description: Children with Learning Difficulties in Public Basic Schools in Ghana A study involving local stakeholders in Greater Accra Region December 2011
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