Nigeria’s support for special needs children must be intentional – Educators

Nigeria’s government must be intentional and focus-driven in the support given to children with special needs to achieve an all-inclusive development for the Nigerian child, educators have said.

Though the government has been showing interest and some support in the recent past, they say, more still need to be done as the majority of the support given to such children comes from parents of children with special needs and organisations.

According to them, the government needs to move from the stage of just acknowledging the challenges that special needs children face in society to putting legislation in place to address the overall issue.

Kimberley Scollard, head of school at Anthos House called for more enlightenment about special needs children and effective government support for organisations working with them.

Speaking at the 2024 Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) certificate ceremony of Anthos House, Greensprings Special Needs School in Lagos, Scollard said a lot needs to be done regarding tolerance towards individuals with special needs.

She said the students worked hard to achieve the ASDAN benchmarks, and that some of the simplest things people take for granted can be difficult for people with special needs.

On the performance of the students, she said, achieving benchmarks like ASDAN is amazing because it aligns with the motto of the programme, which says ‘I am here, I can learn, I can be part of society and I can be successful.

According to her, students received certificates in different modules including ‘My Community Module, ‘My Friendship Module’, ‘My Behavior Module, My Healthy Lifestyle Module and FoodWise Module among others.

Also speaking, Atinuke Ogunnaike, assistant principal at Anthos House expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the ASDAN programme, and that some students completed pathways and full courses.

She called on the government to support schools for special needs children through intervention.

Ogunnaike said the school plans to dedicate more time to hands-on sessions with the students in the next session.

Angela Emuwa, one of the parents of a pioneer student at Anthos House, referred to the school as a lifesaver for children with special needs because it not only helps the students to focus on being independent but also does everything to ensure they move forward in life.

According to Emuwa, the ASDAN programme has not only helped her son hone his cooking skills by making him entrepreneurial, but it has developed his modelling skills as well.

She called on the government to take the welfare of people with special needs more seriously and urged parents to fight for their children’s rights.

On her part, Delphine Misan-Arenyeka, another parent, said there is a need for acceptance from parents and society for people with special needs.

She said the children are gifted, talented and have abilities, adding that parents need to dig deep to know what they can do and allow them to excel along those lines.

She also regretted that there is little or no support from the government in terms of policies, like employment policies, and no social system.

At the end of the programme, 70 certificates were presented to students for completing various modules of their respective programmes.