The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom government has asked President Bola Tinubu to use the money saved from fuel subsidy removal to fund education in the country.
FCDO’s representative, Ian Attfield, who made the call at the end of the Inclusive Education project in Nigeria, (Supporting Mainstreaming Inclusion so all can Learn Equally, SMILE), in Abuja on Wednesday, said: “For the next five years or so, I’m certain we won’t be having discussions about how we can mainstream some of the inclusive education elements.
“There are many major economic changes taking place, such as the changes in fuel subsidy. It should start being deployed to support the human development of Nigeria to build education and services, among other things, that young people need”.
Country Director of Sightsavers Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Isiyaku maintained that inclusivity in education remained the bedrock of national development.
According to him, government at all levels and communities need to ensure children with disabilities are included in the scheme of things as far as their education and future are concerned.
He explained how imperative inclusive education was to develop human capital, adding that the positive impact it had on the lives of children with disabilities and their families could not be overemphasized.
He said inclusive education was not only a basic human right but also a powerful tool for achieving sustainable development.
In his remarks, the Technical Director of Inclusive Education, Sightsavers Global Team, Liesbeth Roolvink, said: “We have trained many people, we have so many champions now that could take this process forward in different places in Nigeria and that is our dream and our hope”.
One of the panelists at the closeout discussion, the Chief Executive Officer/Founder of TAF Africa, Mr. Jake Epelle pointed out that there was a lack of trained teachers on inclusive education.
Epelle, who is also the Convener of Disability Inclusion Nigeria, spoke on the need for awareness creation, funding and holistic education policy that disabused the mindset of having special schools for persons with disabilities but one school premises that would impact them positively and make it easy for them to integrate into the society.
He said: “When it comes to inclusive education, there is the need to increase awareness because it is not many people that know about it. Many parents, especially parents of persons with disabilities, are hiding their children at home.
”How do we go to them to ensure that they are aware that these children they are hiding in their homes need education”?
However, he pointed out that special schools do not really make the desired impact on the education of children with disabilities because they find it difficult to be integrated into society.
