As part of efforts to promote inclusive education across Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation, The Ability Life Initiative (TALI), has donated innovative learning aids and other educational materials to persons with disabilities (PWDs) at the Government Secondary School (GSS) in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The founders of the NGO, Barr. Prada Uzodimma and Mrs. Oprah Uzodimma-Ohaeri, alongside other stakeholders, handed the items to the school authorities during a recent educational outreach to the GSS Kuje.
The donated items included electronic tablets equipped with Adaptive Augmentative Communication (AAC) software to assist children with cerebral palsy in communicating with their teachers, peers, friends, and family.
Other donations included voice recorders for visually impaired students, speakers for the school’s resource room, whiteboards, wheelchairs, projectors, and laptops, all aimed at enhancing inclusive learning through advanced technological devices.
The benefiting students as well as teachers and other members staff were also trained on the use of AAC software to maximise its benefits.
The event was attended by relevant stakeholders in the education and other critical sectors, including the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Mr Khalil Halilu, and the Director of Social Integration, National Commission for Persons With Disabilities (NCPWD), Mr Lawrence Idemudia Edelifo.
Others included Head of Special Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Aiseudion Abel; Senior Social Welfare Officer, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Priscilla Okorodudu, among others.
In an interview with journalists on the sideline of the event, co-founder of TALI, Prada Uzodimma, said the gesture was part of the NGO’s quest to bridge existing gaps and ensure inclusive learning opportunities for students with disabilities, especially in public schools.
She lamented that a lot of students with disabilities in public schools were not been carried along because of little or no learning aids for them, adding that the Foundation was set to provide intervention measures within its capacity.
“One thing TALI advocate is that students with disabilities get the sound and right education that they actually need and desire, and that is what we are doing here today.
“We are sharing these AAC learning materials such as tablets with programmes that enable children who have difficulties in comprehension of speech to be able to communicate with the teachers whether they understand or do not understand what is being taught.
“So we are advocating for parents, ministries, government bodies and other organisations to donate to the cause to enable us buy more of the AAC devices for students to enable them to enhance their learning,” she said.
Prada added that, “We are trying to reward those parents by saying that since they want to encourage their children to learn by taking them to this special schools, we are going to give them these technological devices to enable their teachers teach them better.
“For those in communities, we are still going to have different outreaches to encourage them to know that even if their child has a disability, it doesn’t mean that they can’t learn or they can’t go to school.”
She, therefore, urged teachers to ensure that the items were used for the intended purposes, by making them readily accessible to the students to enable them learn effectively and fulfill their dreams irrespective of their physical challenges.
In her remarks, Assistant Head of Department, Special Needs, GSS Kuje, Mrs Daramola Martina Onyeka, expressed deep appreciation to Prada and her team for the uncommon display of humanitarian gesture and pledged that the items would be effectively utilised in educating the students.
Mrs Onyeka, however, lamented the shortage of specialised teachers for students with special needs in public schools in the FCT.