Children at the Wa School for the Deaf (WADEAF) in Ghana are experiencing serious anguish due to an acute food shortage, making life unbearable for some of the vulnerable students.
According to Mr Eugene Miebu, the Chairman of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), the school has not received feeding grants from the government since the beginning of the academic year, leaving the management struggling to feed the approximately 250 children from Kindergarten to Junior High School.
To cope with the dire situation, the WADEAF had previously cultivated maize on campus, which the children fed on for the past months, but that supply has also been exhausted.
Desperate to provide meals for the students, the school’s management has resorted to borrowing grains from some teachers to cook for the children. However, obtaining money to buy ingredients for the soup remains a challenge.
Mr Miebu lamented that when the school received government support, the children enjoyed nutritious meals including eggs and meat weekly, allowing them to be satisfied and concentrate on their studies. However, due to the lack of funding, the situation has drastically changed, and the children are now facing hardship.
This critical situation is not unique to WADEAF alone. The Wa School for the Blind and the St. Don Bosco Special School, both located near Wa, are also experiencing similar feeding challenges.
Mr Miebu, on behalf of the school and other special schools in the region, appealed to the government and benevolent individuals and organizations to come to the aid of these special needs children by providing them with food and necessary support to enable them to concentrate on their academic work.
Madam Sophia Dimah Nandzo, the Wa Municipal Director of Education, acknowledged the issue and said that they had made requests for grants to address the feeding challenges at WADEAF but were yet to receive a response. She also appealed to the Wa Municipal Assembly to consider supporting the special schools in the municipality with food to reduce the plight of the children.
Highlighting the severity of the situation, Madam Nandzo emphasized that these special needs children come from poor families, making external assistance vital for their well-being and education.
As the plight of the children at WADEAF remains critical, urgent attention and support are needed from relevant authorities and compassionate individuals to alleviate their suffering and ensure a conducive learning environment for these vulnerable children.
Source: GNA
