Approximate­ly three million children of school going age suffer one form of learning disability or the other, the Technical Advisor to the Minister of Education, Profes­sor George Oduro, has revealed.Key among these learning disabilities, he em­phasised, were the various forms of dyslexic learning difficulties which affected more than half of the estimated number."In Ghana, the Africa Dyslexia Organisation estimates that approx­imately 3 million Ghanaians live with various forms of dyslexia.

A 2017 report of a study by Afeti and Nyarko published in the Annals of General Psychiatry, involving 400 primary school pupils in the Hoe Municipality of the Volta region, for example, revealed that 12.8 per cent of the respon­dents suffered from attention-deficit or hyperactivity dis­order (ADHD)," he disclosed.Professor Oduro revealed this when he represented the Minister of Educa­tion, Haruna Iddrisu, at the open­ing of the 2025 African Dyslexia Conference in Accra yesterday.This year's conference is on the theme: 'Shifting Minds, Inspiring Action,' and focused on transform­ing how dyslexia and related learn­ing differences were understood and supported in Africa.The two-day event, organised by the Africa Dyslexia Organisa­tion (ADO), based in Gaborone, Botswana, would seek to unlock the full potential of people living with dyslexia and to promote inclusive education strategies in Ghana.It brought together educators, policymakers, parents, and advo­cates across the world.Prof.

Oduro said it was unfor­tunate that despite evidence of research on the disability, little attention had been given to children who suffer from it in the classroom.He explained that research had also shown that undiagnosed dyslexic learners often sat in silence with their potential unmasked by frustration and their self-esteem eroded by years of being misunder­stood.Prof.

Oduro noted that the Min­istry of Education was concerned about the development and would ensure that every child benefited from quality-indexed access and equitable education as mandated by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4)."The Ministry is highly commit­ted to creating enabling environ­ment to initiatives, such as the Africa Dyslexia Organisation's advocacy programme, which aims at promoting dyslexic children's learning in schools," he promised.Moreover, he mentioned that the Ministry was looking forward to working more closely with ADO and its partners to address the challenges faced by learners with dyslexia and other learning differences."This collaboration will include co-creation of national awareness campaign against stigmatisation and misconceptions about dyslexia; co-designing specialised training programmes for teachers, head teachers, school improvement support officers and directors of education," he indicated.On her part, a Professor at the University of California, Dr Julie Washington, advocated for the development of language by chil­dren to be taken seriously at their formative stages.In her welcome address, the Founder of ADO, Ms Rosalin Abi­gail Kyere Nartey said the confer­ence was not just a gathering but a rallying cry to address the challenge of dyslexia."It is a declaration that every child, every learner, every human being with a learning difference matters.