Project boosts enrolment of children with disabilities in Kaduna schools

By Philip Yatai

Enrolment

The Joint National Associations of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) says an inclusive education project is increasing enrolment of children with disabilities in primary schools in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The state Chairman of the association, Malam Suleiman Abdulazeez, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Saturday.

Abdulazeez said that the project entitled, “Support Mainstreaming Inclusion to all Learn Equally (SMILE)”, was being implemented in eight pilot public primary schools in the area.

He said that the project was being implemented by Sightsavers with funding from the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

He said that the project aimed at creating a locally driven, sustainable, and scalable model of disability-inclusive education in the state.

This, he said, would support the state government in addressing some of the gaps in education service delivery, particularly to the underserved children with disabilities.

He said that the project, running from January 2021 to September 2023, has restored confidence among parents of children with disabilities and encouraged them to enrol their children in school.

He said that the eight pilot schools were receiving an influx of children with disabilities because of the inclusive delivery of education that meets the learning needs of PWDs.

According to him, the SMILE project provides an opportunity to jointly design a small-scale inclusion education project that is scalable and contributes to ensuring better learning outcomes for children with disabilities in basic education.

“The learning from the project will inform the Federal and State Governments about a low-cost and effective approach to make the education system in Nigeria and Kaduna State in particular more disability inclusive,” he declared.

He commended Sightsavers, FCDO and other development partners for supporting to ensure that no PWD was left behind in the educational development agenda of Kaduna state and the country at large.

The state chairman also commended Sightsavers for giving the Organisation of Persons with Disabilities (OPD) a leading role in the implementation of the project in the selected schools.

He said that the OPD were playing a leading role in advocacy and awareness creation in communities and advising School-Based Management Committees and parents on disability issues that impact learning.

“The SMILE project believes that education is the key to social and economic development and without inclusive education, sustainable development efforts cannot be fully achieved.

“Therefore, building a truly inclusive education system is the only way to respond simultaneously to the current learning and schooling crises and ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education for all children,” he said.

(NAN)