Sunyani,- The Reverend Dr. Emmanuel Wozuame, the Headmaster of the Sunyani Vocational Technical and Rehabilitation Training Institute of the Department of Social Welfare, has appealed to the government to support the school.
He urged the government to extend the Disability Support Fund to cover the educational needs and upkeep of students with disabilities in the school.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Rev. Dr. Wozuame said the school had 98 students and 12 of them were PWDs, including hearing and speech-impaired persons, saying the situation, therefore, required urgent assistance.
He said the school was financially handicapped to feed the boarding students and appealed to the general public for support.
“We are under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, contributing to the training of youth and PWDs, but our major source of funding is the meagre IGF,” Rev Dr. Wozuame said.
In his view, the extension of the Disability Support Fund to cover the PWDs in the school would greatly help to provide the required employable skill training to the students in their three-year studies.
“We also provide employable skill training to the marginalized, vulnerable and PWDs and other children from broken homes, school dropouts and street children,” he said.
The students are trained in fashion and designing, leather work, textile and decorations, electrical engineering and technology as well as building construction, wood works, auto mechanic, plumbing and gas fittings.
Rev Dr. Wozuame said the school was working to address streetism and hawking among the children and youth and appealed to philanthropists and wealthy people and NGOs to come to their aid.
“Social Welfare is non-profit making institution, and we have huge financial constraints,” he added.
Source: Ghana News Agency