Convention 159 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), to which Ghana is a signatory, states that each ratifying member country "shall consider the purpose of vocational rehabilitation as enabling a disable person to secure, retain and advance in a suitable employment and thereby to further such person's integration or reintegration into society.

"Each ratifying member, in accordance with national conditions, practice and possibilities, shall formulate, implement and periodically review a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons.

"The representative organizations of employers and workers shall be consulted on the implementation of the said policy, including the measures to be taken to promote cooperation and coordination between public and private bodies engaged in vocational rehabilitation activities."

Obvious questions that arise from the above are for instance, what is Ghana's national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons and how often is it reviewed to ensure that it responds to changing needs?

Under the management of the Department of Social Welfare, the government of Ghana has since 1962 established rehabilitation centres to engage all manner of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Employable Skills to enable them live independent and dignified lives in Society.

A number of disabled persons have over the years, been given such training, some of whom have gone on to do well in society.

The number of disabled persons found on the streets begging in recent times and the current state of rehabilitation centres in the country are ample testimony to the fact that all is not well with vocational rehabilitation in the country.

Some disabled persons prefer being on the streets to beg as those who undergo the training end up without tools with which to establish themselves in society.

Research has indicated that many disabled people do not patronize rehabilitation programmes. Many who try it leave dissatisfied. Most of the disabled people will rather migrate to the cities to beg. Many reasons, including economic and location of rehabilitation centres in the cities, have been assigned for this trend of affairs. Begging is often seen as the fastest way to gain some independence, reduce stigma and avoid stigmatized environments.

Master Kwaku Appiah, 40, a graduate of the National Vocational Training Institute in Cape Coast currently lives and begs at the Airport junction in Accra after he had learnt shoemaking for four years at the institute.

Mr. Asamoah Daniel,45, a blind farmer from Ofuman in the Techiman Municipal Assembly of the Brong Ahafo Region, ever received such training after which he could not get support to set up a workshop.

He went into farming and in 2002 was awarded the "District Best Physically Challenged Farmer."

On 27 May 2008, Mr. Asamoah appeared at the Brong Ahafo Regional Peoples' Assembly held in Techiman with a letter dated 2 April 2007.

The letter indicated that he had written to the MCE Hon. Prince Yaw Donyina to support him with four million old cedis from the disabled share of the Common Fund to enable him expand his farm.

The question Mr Asamoah asked was why he had still not gotten a response to his letter and that if he was not going to be given the money then he should be given license to go and beg on the streets.

In response, Mr. Prince Yaw Donyina assured him his letter would receive the needed attention.

While at it, the current state of the Sunyani Vocational and Rehabilitation Centre provides a classical example of how rehabilitation centres across the country are struggling to make good their mandate.

The centre is one of those under the Department of Social Welfare that are supposed to provide training to persons with various forms of disabilities to facilitate their integration into society.

The centre has over the years, provided this service to disabled people from various districts in the Brong Ahafo Region.

It currently undertakes about nine different vocational training programmes including shoe and dressmaking.

The number of disabled students at the centre currently stands at 29 and the number of able students stands at one hundred and forty-nine.

The number of disabled students could have been far higher if disabled people in the region had shown more interest.

The Centre Manager, Mr. Emmanuel Wozuame told the Public Agenda during a research that the idea of bringing the disabled students and their abled counterparts together to learn under one roof started in 2004 and was aimed at integration.

This arrangement is today the lifeline of the centre. This is because government subvention is not forthcoming to cater for the needs of the disabled students who do not pay fees. As such, the fees paid by the abled students are what the centre lives on. "The last time we received government subvention was about two years ago and it was one million cedis," says the centre manager.

Meanwhile the cost of materials for the various vocational programmes keeps stretching the finances of the centre.

Nevertheless, Mr. Wozuame says he sympathises with the Department of Social Welfare, the decentralized mother body. "They are equally under resourced."

The disabled students are from various districts, which could have borne the cost of their training. However, the centre manager says several appeals to the various District Assemblies towards it have not been heeded.

Things would have been worse for the centre but for the episodic intervention of some philanthropic organizations. Kristo Asafo and the Catholic Relief Services have been helping with staples and other food items.