“When you choose hope, anything is possible.”- Christopher Reeves

As part of ENNY Foundation’s social responsibility and advocating for children with special needs and inclusive education, Mr. Emmanuel Ntow Nyarko (Director of ENNY Foundation) travelled to Jamasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana to train the teachers of the Yonso Project Model School.

On Friday 9^th September, 2022, 38 teachers of YPMS were trained on the ‘Red Flags of Autism’ and ‘Inclusion in the Ghanaian Classroom, What it Looks Like’. The training was a follow up to visits made by Mr. Nyarko to the school in July and August respectively; where he went to all classes and observed students as teachers taught and also assessed some specific students of concern within the classroom and school environment.

Before the training session began, the Director of the School, Mr. Kwabena Danso, welcomed the teachers and the training team. He mentioned how much they had been looking forward to the training since Mr. Nyarko’s visit. “I know that after this training, my staff will be equipped with skills to support the children with needs in the school”, he said.

During the training session, Mr. Nyarko explained that every child has the potential to be their very best if given the time and attention they need and said that, “inclusion is possible if and only if you (the teachers) will work together and support each other.”

The teachers were put into 4 groups for various activities after each presentation. They were asked to explain in their own words how they will support children with social communication and interaction difficulties, sensory disorders, unusual interests and behaviours and the last group deliberated on how to use play skills to achieve all of the above difficulties. 

After the second presentation on inclusion in the Ghanaian classroom, teacher-groups were asked to present on differentiating the topic of money/currency within the classroom, ensuring that all students’ learning needs are met.

Teachers from the 4 groups shared on using the children’s motivation and RPK (Relevant Previous Knowledge) i.e., teaching from the known to the unknown, such as colours, to help students identify the GHC 1 (One Ghana cedi) note and coin. They were also encouraged to set targets for the students-of-concern in their classrooms and work together as a team to achieve those goals for at most the term.