ECG Cuts Off Power Of Special Needs School Over Gh66k Debt

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), as part of its mobilisation drive, has disconnected power to the Garden City Special School at Asokore Mampong in the Ashanti Region.

According to available information, the school has been in darkness since February 14, 2024.

This is due to the failure on the part of management to pay a debt of GH₵66,000 to the company.

Speaking to JoyNews’ Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Nana Boakye Yiadom, the headmistress of the school, Dr Roselyn Frimpong Agyapong, said all efforts by the Municipal Director of Education and the Asokore Mampong Municipal Chief Executive to get ECG to restore power to the school had been unsuccessful following her appeal to these government officials to intervene.

“The government needs to pay more attention to children with disabilities in Ghana, especially their education. These children are often neglected in everything, and that is not right,” she added.

In addition to the electricity challenges, the boys’ dormitory has also caved in, leaving the learners to sleep in the classroom at the mercy of the weather.

The Garden City Special School is the only basic segregated government facility for learners with special education needs ( Intellectual and Developmental disabilities) in the Ashanti, parts of Eastern, Western, and Northern Regions and has about 192 learners.

The school is fully government sub-vented and does not charge any school fees from learners.

Dr Agyapong, expressing her frustration, called on government to pay urgent attention to the needs of special schools in the country, including Garden City Special School.