The Honourable Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Afisa Otiko Djaba has assured Parliament that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) centres would comply with accessibility to persons with disabilities.
According to the Minister, WAEC would be provided with a copy of the Ghana Accessibility Standard to guide the redesign of existing buildings and new ones under construction.
This came to light when the Honourable Member of Parliament for Asawase, wanted to know steps being taken to ensure that the WAEC building in Kumasi is disability friendly.
In her statement, she said “Officials of WAEC have indicated that the location for the examination hall and the offices of the controller on the ground floor had been made easily accessible for persons with disability”.
She noted that as at the time the WAEC centres in Kumasi were commissioned in July, 1993 disability issues were not on the front burner.
The Ministry launched the Ghana Accessibility Standard for the built environment in 2015 to ensure universal accessibility to all relevant institutions.
Ministry of Works and Housing, Roads and Highways and Spatial Planning Authority are being engaged to enforce the inclusion provision in Ghana’s Building Regulations so that they become requirements in construction.
Madam Afisa Otiko Djaba further revealed that the National Council on Persons with Disability under her direction held meetings with officials of WAEC at their headquarters on the need to make their facilities accessible to persons with disability.
She also reiterated that the Ministry is collaborating with key institutions to ensure that provisions in the standard are implemented.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
