Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has hinted that is putting strategies in place to improve learning outcomes in children with special needs in basic education levels across the country.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Hamid Boboyi gave the hint at the 2-day interactive meeting of the department of special programs with SUBEB special Education desk officers in Abuja.
He said he believes that with the right attitude and commitment, the initiative can be executed with a high degree of outcome to meet the socio-economic development of the country and also meet up with the international standards of education that would make Nigeria and Nigerian children equal among their peers.
The Executive Secretary also acknowledged that, for a clearer understanding of the principles of inclusive education in terms of whole-school planning, technical experts had been carefully selected to kick start the program.
He noted that the ultimate goal of the meeting was to ensure that the learning needs of all categories of children with special needs were adequately catered for through the provision of assistive technologies and instructional materials.
Bobboyi said he hopes the needs assessment would be a guide to record the necessary information and directed the experts to make appropriate submissions for proper follow up in their states.
He mentioned that the effective inclusive education system will bring about the implementation of individualized education opportunities for different categories of children with disabilities, provide a common learning environment for all learners and present a clear vision and well stated mission geared toward achieving exceptional learning performance.
He concluded by urging them to put in the right attitude to work in consideration of the future of the children, particularly children with special needs to bring out the required report that will achieve the objectives of this national assignment.
UBE National Personnel Audit report of 2018 showed that there were between 93 – 150 million children with different categories of disabilities in the world. In Nigeria however, there were 100, 863 males and 88,208 female totaling 189,070 children with different categories of disabilities in basic education institutions across the country.
