Author/s:
Braimah, Awaisu Imurana*
University of Education, Winneba, Ghana – West Africa (braawaisu@yahoo.com; baimurana@uew.edu.gh)
Ewusie Jabialu, Theresa
University of Education, Winneba, Ghana – West Africa (tejabialu@uew.edu.gh)
Mensah, Matilda Arko
University of Education, Winneba, Ghana – West Africa (mensah.matilda@yahoo.com)
Abstract:
This paper interrogates the sociolegal nexus between mega infrastructure in tertiary institutions and accessibility of students with one form of disability or another for effective academic work. Disability is the physical impairment of the body either partial or permanent loss of limbs or sight which make locomotion and everyday life activities restrictive and oppressive. The physical impairment itself is a functional limitation for the individual but the individual also, has the potential to discover oneself to live ‘normal’ and independently with the necessary institutional structures and support of society. However, since the twilight of history, society has consciously or unconsciously stratified, segregated and excludes disabled persons via institutional, cultural and environmental mechanisms of denying the disabled of their basic human rights. Many tertiary institutions in Ghana have resorted to building gargantuan infrastructure in order to effectively maximize the use of limited land for future expansion and for aesthetic purposes. While the flourishing and expansion of these buildings are plausible, adequate access to this infrastructure has remained a serious challenge to students with disabilities. This phenomenon impact negatively on the academic performances of disabled students and a direct contravention to the freedom of movement enshrined in the Ghanaian constitution. We argue that discrimination, social exclusion and the various physical curtailment of movement of students with disabilities in tertiary institutions constitute a core human right violation.
Keywords: aesthetic; disability; discrimination; human rights; social exclusion
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrse.2017.1886
*Corresponding Author