WA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF MAKES STEADY PROGRESS (PAGE 30)

THE Wa School for the Deaf (WADEAF) has just celebrated its 40th anniversary on the theme: "40 years of education in the Upper West Region, achievements, challenges and the way forward".
The occasion attracted people from all walks of life who celebrated the day with the inmates of the school.
In attendance was the school’s band led by Mr Tia. History has it that, in 1967, one Lieutenantt-General Drummon of the Commonwealth Society for the Deaf came and did some feasibility studies on the incidence of deafness in north-western Ghana now known as the Upper West Region.
The findings revealed that the incidence of deafness was high in that part of Ghana. He, therefore, approached some reverened sisters who were operating a maternity home at Nandom, to start a school alongside the maternity home to cater for some of the children he came across, but the sisters declined.
Instead, they directed Lt-Gen. Drummon to the then Bishop of Wa , the late Cardinal Peter Dery, who readily accepted the idea and contacted the Ministry of Education for support.
Bishop Dery was said to have faced opposition because what was on the schedule was the establishment of the Bechem School for the Deaf in the Brong Ahafo Region so he was told to wait but he persisted and insisted on his readiness to open the school in Wa.
The next problem was how to get a specialist teacher to start the school if given the go ahead. Fortunately, one Gaspard Bob-Milliar, a native of Nandom, who was just about completing the specialist training at the then Deaf Education Specialist Training College at Mampong-Akuapem, accepted the Bishop’s offer to take up the task.
Eventually, on November 11, 1968, the Wa School for the Deaf, the third in Ghana, was officially opened with an initial enrolment of 20 pupils comprising 17 boys and three girls in a rented quarters at Wapaani, a section of Wa.
Today, WADEAF has grown and has a population of 269 pupils. The school, which has moved to Konta, a suburb of Wa, runs a two-year kindergaten, primary section, a four-year Junior High School (JHS), a three-year vocational institute and a unit for the mentally-challenged. Interestingly, the school follows the same curriculum as the regular schools with some adaptations to suit the special education needs of the children. At the end of the JHS course, the pupils sit the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) organised by West African Examinations Council (WAEC) as their counterparts in the regular setting.
"The vocational programme gives post-JHS students skills training in weaving, carpentry, woodwork, catering, dress-making and crafts", the head teacher of the school, Mrs Esther Yerifari told the Daily Graphic.

Achievements
Until the 1970’s when the Savelugu School for the Deaf was opened, WADEAF’’s catchment area covered the whole of northern Ghana, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions.
Last year, a former student of the school, Juventus Dourinaa gained admission to the University of Ghana.
According to Mrs Yenfari, there had been steady increase in enrolment as a result of awareness creation while many negative attitudes or perceptions had given way to positive ones.
On infrastructure, she stated that there had been steady increase in projects.
Mrs Yenfari thanked a philanthropic organisation in Holland, Wilde Gazen for putting up a vocational unit for the mentally-challenged and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) for the provision of a wall, a six-unit classroom block and a computer centre as well as the renovation of dormitories and staff bungalows.
She, however, said there were some challenges facing the school which included an uncompleted administration block and library which had been at foundation level for over two decades.
"Other challenges have to do with connecting water to the staff bungalows, lighting system along the access roads, more staff bungalows and last but not the least, the school needs a bus to enable the children to embark on educational trips, among others", she added.
Mrs Yenfari also appealed for the upgrading of the school’s assessment centre to a standard one.
She also called for the establishment of sign language centres in each district for interested teachers and individuals in order to get more interpreters for institutions like hospitals, police stations, courts and other public places.
For his part, the senior prefect of the school, Master John Moarl, mentioned the need for the deaf to be given a lot of attention in education.
He commended the Catholic Church for establishing the school which he described as Godsend.