Children’s Day: NOA-FCT, BPW urge leaders to provide specialised learning aids for children living with disabilities

The federal government has been asked to make provision for children living with disabilities to participate in online classes.

 The call was made by the FCT directorate of the National Orientation Agency.

The government failed to take in cognisance thousands of children living with disabilities in pushing for online classes.

The National Orientation Agency, FCT directorate, has called for the provision of specialised learning aids for children living with disabilities in Nigeria.

The NOA-FCT in collaboration with Business and Professional Women (BPW) Nigeria, noted that children living with disabilities in Nigeria have special needs and require learning aids to help them join in the online classes most schools are running this period. 

The agency quoted a visually impaired assistant chief education officer in the federal ministry of education, Ms Oluchi Okpara, who spoke on the need to make provisions for this category of Nigerians.

Online classes began across the country during the total lockdown imposed by the government. Source: Original.

Her words: “Children living with disabilities have not been factored into plans by the federal government in plans to continue teaching children online during the lockdown.

“While parents can get lesson teachers for their children to teach them at home or even join in the online lessons that most schools are running now, for a child with a disability, he is completely out of the game. There is no provision for that child.

“The government should try as much as possible to involve children living with disabilities in online learning by providing assisting technology that will help them to also learn alongside other children.”

NOA-FCT also called on well-meaning Nigerians to join in the government’s efforts to make specialised learning aids available to them.

Online learning programmes introduced by the government to keep children educated in the lockdown period are currently ongoing.