A number of street children are benefiting from an ongoing special training and educational programme organised by the Special Attention Project (SAP), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), to make them productive.
The organisation which is based at Kaneshie in Accra intends to educate children who are not enrolled in school and live on the streets in and around the Kaneshie Community,
A survey conducted by the SAP among children at the Catholic Action for Street Children (CAS), another NGO that takes care of children who have dropped out of school, showed that a number of the children had typical learning problems and while some were able to learn to read and write, others could not do so.
Speaking at the launch of SAP in Accra, the Co-ordinator of the organisation, Ms Margaretha Ubels, said the SAP initiated the special training and education project as a way of addressing the result of the survey.
She said most of the children should be in school, but their learning disabilities made it difficult for them to enrol under the formal educational system since most of them would need extra attention in order to keep up with academic work.
Ms Ubels said the organisation was supervising 25 children who were drawn from Kaneshie and its environs, after several interactions to find out their special learning disability.
“Learning difficulty” is a special challenge that affects the different learning skills of a child. It includes dyslexia, which is associated with difficulty in learning specific skills related to words such as reading and spelling.
Other forms of learning difficulties are attention deficit disorder, which is associated with short attention span and high levels of distraction, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Children with this disorder can be hyperactive, have too much energy, cannot sit still for minutes and are very impulsive.
Ms Ubels said if there was a combination of a learning problem and an unstable family situation, the child would be at a high risk and end up on the street.
She, therefore, advised parents to give special attention to their wards to enable them identify their special learning difficulty.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Mawuli Tetteh, a specialist in addressing specific learning disabilities in Children, said lots of people with learning disabilities had been successful in their careers because they learned to overcome their barriers which enabled them to accomplish their dreams and desires.
He said the disorders in some of the children were found to be a catalyst for success, forcing them to develop and utilise their hidden talents.
He said the successes chalked up by persons with learning disabilities, despite their difficulties, showed that dreams could be fulfilled so long as they are encouraged.
Mr Tetteh, therefore, advised parents not to neglect their wards because they had special learning disabilities, but support and encourage them, adding that teachers who teach such children should also endeavour to give special attention to them to help them develop their skills.
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