JOS — The wife of the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mrs Modupe Afiz Ogun, has raised concerns over the low level of awareness of learning disabilities in Nigeria, calling for early identification, intervention and sustained support for affected learners.
Ogun made the call on Monday while declaring open a three-day 2026 Teachers’ Professional Development Training for staff of the ITF Model School, Jos, organised by the Modupe Afiz Ogun Foundation.
The training seeks to equip teachers with practical knowledge and skills to identify learners with specific learning disabilities and other challenges that may affect their educational development.
Ogun said every child had the capacity to learn but stressed that learners required different approaches and support to reach their full potential.
“Everybody can learn, that is a fact, but everybody does not learn the same way. If everybody does not think and reason the same way, then we must understand how best to support every child,” she said.
She attributed part of the low awareness of learning disabilities to the fact that many of the conditions are not physically visible, making it difficult for affected children to receive appropriate support.
According to her, children with learning disabilities are often wrongly described as lazy, stubborn, rude, unwilling to cooperate or poorly raised because their challenges are not immediately obvious.
Ogun called for continuous training of teachers as well as greater awareness among parents and the wider society, stressing that intervention should extend beyond primary and secondary education to tertiary institutions and workplaces.
In his speech, delivered by the Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mr Ojo Akindele, the ITF Director-General, Dr Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, said the training was consistent with the Fund’s mandate of developing human capacity.
He said the initiative extended that mandate to the ITF Model School by providing teachers with specialised knowledge and practical strategies for identifying and responding to learning difficulties.
Ogun identified dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia among conditions that could affect learners’ educational outcomes when not properly identified and addressed.
“Bright and capable students can sometimes face unrecognised challenges. When these processing differences go unnoticed, our children struggle needlessly,” he said, describing educators as being at the frontline of early detection and intervention.
The training features sessions on screening tools, neurodiverse classrooms, multi-sensory teaching, targeted interventions, Individualised Education Plans (IEPs) and inclusive teaching strategies.
One of the facilitators, Mr Iniobong Sam, described the training as timely, noting the need for greater awareness and specialised support for children experiencing learning difficulties.
Sam said teachers were strategically positioned to observe learners’ patterns and initiate appropriate interventions when challenges were identified.
The Head Teacher of the ITF Model School, Mrs Josephine Oluwole, expressed appreciation to the ITF Director-General and his wife for supporting the programme, saying the training would help teachers better understand learning disabilities and avoid mistaking them for laziness, stubbornness or misconduct.
She disclosed that the programme had been planned earlier but was not initially captured in the school’s budget until the intervention of the Director-General.
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