Government’s consistent failure to pay subventions to schools that cater for students with special needs has caused some of them to turn students away days after re-opening.

The Cape Coast School for the Deaf in the Central Region, sent away students who showed up Monday morning.

Joy News Correspondent, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko, said teachers at the school have been telling parents to take away their children.

“The schools are unable to even feed them [students]. The teaching and learning materials that are there are not enough”, said Richard who visited the school.

The school, a few days after re-opening had to beg for five bags of rice to enable them feed the students, school authorities told Richard.

Across the country, authorities at the schools that care of students with special needs like the deaf, blind and mentally challenged, say they have had to rely on limited stock and philanthropists to care for these children.

Parents do not pay fees at these schools, but rely solely on government subvention and gifts from philanthropists.

In the Eastern Region, the Kyebi School for the Deaf is also facing similar difficulties due to government's lack of paying subventions.

Headmaster of the school, Michael Cudjoe, told Joy News the school cannot even pay electricity bills.

He said the school owes close to GHȼ4,000 of electricity bills. 

He explains that because a mechanised borehole that provides water relies on power, should the Electricty Company of Ghana cut power, the school will not have water.

In spite of these, the leadership of the Conference of Heads of Special Schools, has warned against the schools closing down.

Its President, Gerhadt Charles Gbekle, himself a Headmaster for Gbi Special School for Intellectually Disabled, last week told Joy News he has met the headmasters of the struggling specials schools on the matter.

He said schools should not close down due to lack of funds to run. “No headmaster has the right to close down the school”, he had said.

Admitting that the delays in the release of the grants is unfortunate, he said the heads of the special schools must understand that "we [the country] are in a crisis”.

Rev Gbekle said schools that have supplies from the previous term should use them, or call on the District Directors of Education to help.

He said if the District Director is unable to offer help, the schools should call on the Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) for redress.