Various disabilities advocacy groups on Wednesday in Abuja called on governments at all levels to prioritise inclusive education for children with disabilities.
Their representatives made the call when they spoke with the Newsmen.
Mr David Anyaele, Executive Director, Center for Citizens with Disabilities, said that as schools resumed across the country, it was pertinent that no child was left behind on the basis of disabilities.
Anyaele urged the Federal Government to ensure that children with disabilities were not left out of on-going and upcoming global education commitments.
“Nigeria has approximately 10 million children out of school, one of the greatest numbers in the world.
“Most of these children are not in school because of barriers relating to poverty, gender and disability, and their situation has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Government should be responsible for all of its commitments, especially its global commitment to implementing inclusive education for the benefit of special needs children,’’ he said.
Anyaele urged governments at all levels to make clear policy commitments and action plan for children with disabilities to enable easy access to schools.
He lauded Federal Government’s efforts over the years in making the education system more inclusive and accessible, but called for intensified implementation efforts, especially for girls who were lagging behind.
Dr Sunday Isiyaku, Sightsavers’ Country Director for Nigeria, an NGO, also said that Nigeria was one of the countries with the highest number of out-of-school children, thus the need for strong commitment towards inclusive education.
Isiyaku advocated for a policy change and more funding to ensure that all learners with disabilities had access to equitable, quality and accessible learning environment.
This, he said, should include access to education for nomads.
Ms Ojonugwa Okwoli, Programme and Administration Manager at Hope for the Handicapped Persons Foundation, said inclusive education for all learners with or without disability was a vital way to fully integrate persons with disability into the mainstream economy.
She said that equal opportunities and a level playing ground as well as a sustainable and inclusive future for all could not be over emphasised.
Risikat Mohammed, Executive Director of Women with Disability Self- Reliance Foundation, said access to inclusive education meant access to justice.
According to her, a world with inclusive education policies is a world without poverty.
“An inclusive education government is a government for everybody, leaving no-one behind as disability should not be a barrier to a quality and accessible education,’’ she said.
She called for a nationwide campaign seeking the commitment and participation of all governments to inclusive action policies for children with disabilities to benefit from good, quality and accessible education.