An NGO under the aegis of Cedar Seed Foundation has called for massive implementation of the National Policy on Inclusive Education along with the total revitalization of existing special schools in the State.
The Foundation Team made the call during an advocacy visit to headquarters of the Gombe State chapter of Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) on Tuesday 11th Jan 2022.
In a paper presented to the SUBEB management and made available to Inclusive News Network, INN, team Director, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Miss Rebecca Hassan, who also doubles as women leader of the National Association of the Blind (NAB), Gombe State chapter explained that Cedar Seed Foundation is a Youth-led, Non-Governmental, non-profit and non-sectarian, membership-based development organization with a mission of providing services that support Persons With Disabilities to participate in all aspects of communal life by mainstreaming their issues and concerns into national development agendas based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities.
“Ceder Seed Foundation received support and funding from USAID through DAI’s Nigerian State Accountability, Transference and Effectiveness Activity (State2State) project to implement a program titled: Initiative Advocating and Promoting Inclusive Basic Education in Gombe State”, Hassan said.
“Our coming here today is to register serious concern over the alarming rate of out-of-school children with disabilities in Gombe State. The situation seem to be getting out of hands recently.
“We realize the importance of partnership with relevant educational stakeholders like SUBEB in order to fast track the full scale implementation of the National policy on Inclusive Education in schools and institutions” she reiterated.
Hassan also noted that the Cedar Seed Foundation Team recognizes the importance of SUBEB as a critical stakeholder in the education industry, and, therefore deem it appropriate to seek collaboration with her in order to achieve the lofty objectives of the Cedar Seed Foundation policy.
“We are worried that the two existing special education schools in the state are sited in very distant (often hard-to- reach) locations lacking in basic educational and social infrastructures like road, power supply, and portable water.
In addition, the schools lacks human, material and financial resources”
Miss Rebecca explained that the full implementation of the National Policy on Inclusive Education in schools and institutions to complement the decaying special education system is therefore sacrosanct and mandatory.
Hence, the status quo calls for massive campaign, collaborations and effective advocacy visit to various stakeholders of education in the State.
According to her, the project is to be implemented in six LGAs of Gombe State. These are: Akko, Billiri, Shongom, Gombe, Kwami and Y/Deba Local Government Areas.
” It’s on these premises that we decided to seek your hands of fellowship as a critical stakeholder in the education industry. We are aware that the success of this project will largely depends on the collaboration and support of relevant stakeholders, including SUBEB.
The collaboration we seek are in the areas of access to institutions and persons, provisions of relevant information to assist this project and inclusion of budget line for the procurement of assistive learning devices and materials for children with disabilities in Gombe State to aid their learning process”, she concluded.
The Executive Chairman of Gombe State chapter of SUBEB, Hon Babaji Babadidi, was represented by a Full Time Member, Dr. Abubakar Akumo, welcomed the Cedar Seed Foundation Team and said their visit was timely and accurate.
He said “the SUBEB hierarchy is very much glad to receive you here today. This advocacy visit you embarked upon is quite timely and In the right moment, you have come at a time SUBEB management are considering new options to uplift special education schools in the State”.
“We fervently welcome and acknowledge the demand for effective collaboration and partnership. Be rest assured that SUBEB management will soon plunge into action to identify areas of collectivism and work out modalities to achieve them. Hon. Babadidi said.
In his reaction, Hon Sani Sambo explained that he is part of people with disabilities having been a longtime friend of the Deaf.
In his word: “for the umpteenth time, Permit me to show you that we have provided many teaching equipment to the two government-owned special education schools in the state and we will continue to run an inclusive administration especially when it comes to equality.
A visit to one of the affected schools located at London Maidorawa quarters in Gombe metropolis further confirmed the dearth of infrastructure including pervasive shortage of drinking water, epileptic power supply, dearth of teaching and non-teaching staff, gully erosion, among others.
The Cedar Seed Foundation Team which includes two blind persons, one person with physical Disability, one Deaf, two normal persons, and a sign language interpreter was warmly received by Full-Time Members I and ii, the Board Secretary, the Director of Personnel management, the Director, Special Education among other staff.
Inclusive News Network