In order to drum home issues pertaining to the deaf in the Ghanaian society, the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) has called on the media to give publicity and educate the public on the successes and problems of the deaf community. Mr. Godfred Kwami Tay, Assistant Director, Special Education Division of the Ghana Education Service said, “There should be relentless efforts by the media in promoting the deaf community and most importantly the use of the sign language. “This will definitely ease the frustration and the embarrassment that the deaf face in the society.” Speaking at a sensitization programme on Wednesday for media personnel, Mr Tay said during presentation of news, messages, documentaries and advertisements on televisions, efforts should be made to get sign language interpreters to let the deaf community also benefit from whatever message might be sent across. He urged government to let Ghanaian Sign language, which is the medium of communication for the deaf in the country be recognized as one of the national languages and also to educate the public on the need to learn it. “This will not only facilitate easy communication between the deaf and people around them but also help them to be easily integrated into the community”, he reiterated. Mr. Tay appealed to both public and private service providers to engage the services of sign Language Interpreters to bridge the communication gap between the deaf and the service providers. To boost the ego of the deaf, their success stories in various fields should enjoy publicity in the media, preferably in headline or front page news. The workshop, which was sponsored by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly was under the theme: “Engaging the media to help raise awareness on deafness and deaf issues”. Mr. Samuel Asare, National President of GNAD who spoke on the menace of deaf beggars in the society called on the public to desist from giving financial assistance to deaf people who approached them for help in the name of the Association since the monies collected were for their personal gains and more over, such people did not belong to the GNAD. “These beggars some of which are from our neighbouring countries come with designed and printed out fake Identity Cards, letterheads and rubber stamps all in the name of the Association. The public is advised not to extend to them any assistance since they are for personal and selfish gain”, he emphasized. He urged persons who hoped to support the Association to channel their assistance to the national headquarters or any of its ten regional head offices in the country. He called on all deaf persons to leave up to the aims of the Association which sought to encourage its members to be self-supporting and to be assets to their families and communities. Highlighting some of the problems that deaf persons faced in the society, Mr. Ebenezer Asamoah, National Secretary of GNAD mentioned lack of higher education due to limited facilities at tertiary institutions, job opportunities, and effective communication. He urged the public to be more accommodating to the deaf community and also extend to them any form of assistance that they might need. Source: GNA