By Opeyemi Babalola
British education charity, Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN), has trained Nigerian students with disabilities on solutions to life skills challenges.
The school, which has centre for the disabled in Lagos, offers programmes that raise aspirations and address the needs of young people with learning difficulties through meaningful and creative learning opportunities.
Speaking at the presentation of certificates to the students, Head of School, Kimberly Scollard, explained that the certificates were attestation to how much transformation they have acquired in both academic and life skills.
She further explained that the special school, like others in the world, approached young people with special educational needs, which in turn, give them independence to compete with other students in mainstream school.
“A lot is done before we get them certified. The certificate is not something you get for showing up; you have to do a lot far more than showing up, students here must work very hard,” she added.
Scollard assured that with the certificates, their entry into universities and colleges is guaranteed in some schools abroad.
In her remarks, Assistant Principal, Atinuke Ogunaike, said that all the programmes for special needs students are designed in such a way that they deal with practical all through.
She explained that getting certificate in any programme is not determined by the number of years, but on a student’s performance.
“ASDAN allows the students to grow at their pace. Here, some would do it for more than a year, while some did for six months. So, there is no point rushing the children but they have some criteria that they must meet,” she said.