Commission to deploy assistive technology in Nigerian basic schools

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) said that plans are underway to deploy assistive technology and instructional materials to meet the learning needs of all categories of children with special needs in Nigeria.

This was the submission of the Executive Secretary of the commission Dr. Hamid Boboyi at a 2-day interactive meeting of the department of special programs with State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB special Education desk officers in Abuja.

Dr.Bobboyi said that he believes so much that with the right attitude and commitment, the initiative can be executed with a high degree of outcome to meet the socio-economic development of the country and also meet up with the international standards of education that would make Nigeria and Nigerian children equal among their peers.

The Executive Secretary acknowledged that for a clearer understanding of the principles of inclusive education in terms of whole-school planning, technical experts have been carefully selected to kick start the program.

He noted that the ultimate goal of the meeting is to ensure that the learning needs of all categories of children with special needs are adequately catered for through the provision of assistive technologies and instructional materials and that while he hopes the needs assessment will be a guide to record the necessary information accordingly.

He requested the experts to make appropriate submissions for proper follow up in their states.

Bobboyi mentioned that the effective inclusive education system will bring about the implementation of individualized education opportunities for different categories of children with disabilities, provide a common learning environment for all learners and present a clear vision and well-stated mission geared towards achieving exceptional learning performance.

He concluded by urging them to put in the right attitude to work in consideration of the future of the children, particularly children with special needs to bring out the required report that will achieve the objectives of this national assignment.

It is on record that they are between 93 – 150 million children with different categories of disabilities in the world. There are 100, 863 males and 88,208 females totaling 189,070 Nigerian children with different categories of disabilities in basic education institutions only as revealed in UBE National Programme.

Dominica Nwabufo