By Abbas Jimoh

The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and USAID have commenced the drafting of an inclusive education policy for disabled children in the FCT.
This is coming on the heels of the inauguration of a 14-man Inclusive Education Policy Drafting Committee (IEPDC) which initiative is of the USAID’s Strengthening Advocacy and Civic Engagement (SACE) programme in Nigeria.

Speaking at a three-day intensive training for the IEPDC and other stakeholders, the National Programme Manager of JONAPWD, Deji Ademefun, said only seven states have inclusive education policy for children with disabilities.

“Many of the Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) that we see today were not born with the disabilities. Many had accidents or were injured in one way or the other and should not be denied their basic rights, including access to education,” he said.
“This is a four-year project and is being implemented in FCT, Akwa Ibom and Kwara states, as we discovered in a baseline research that these states have the highest numbers of PWDs children out of school.”

The Deputy Director, Special Needs Education Unit, Education Secretariat FCTA, Mrs. Jean Onyekwelu, the Capacity Building and Relationship Advisor USAID-SACE, Mr. Simon Fanto, and other participants assured that a workable draft policy on inclusive education would be evolved for the benefit of FCT and all children in the country, adding that it would be deliberated on at a larger forum before adoption.

President of JONAPWD, Ms. Ekaete Judith Umoh, said during the inauguration of the committee that the make-up of members would ensure inclusive and accessible education for the teeming number of out of school children with disabilities in the FCT and Nigeria.