The United Nations Education Children Fund (UNICEF) has said about 95 percent of children with disabilities numbering about seven million children are not in school in Nigeria.
7m children out of school in Nigeria
Virtually all primary and secondary schools in Nigeria are designed, in ways that are not accessible to children with disabilities.
UNICEF
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The president of the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities (JONAPWD), Ekaete Umoh, confirmed this recently.
Umoh also said research has shown that children with disabilities constitute more than 50 percent of the over 10million out of school children despite the provision of the universal Basic Education Act of 2004 that basic education is free and compulsory for all children.
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She also added that even if all primary and secondary schools were adequate for all school age children in Nigeria, children with disabilities would still remain out of school because virtually all primary and secondary schools in Nigeria are designed, built and managed in ways that are totally not inclusive of and not accessible to children with disabilities.
The president noted that while there are special schools, JONAPWD does not want special schools but rather inclusive education where children, despite their disabilities are able to relate and interact with their peers, ‘We do not want institutionalisation," she said.
Speaking on the project, Umoh said pursuant to the need to make all primary and secondary schools inclusive of and accessible to children with disabilities, JONAPWD requested for a four- year grant from the USAID through its strengthening Advocacy and Civic Engagement (SACE) programme in Nigeria.
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