The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, has said he is well pleased with a new paradigm shift in the implementation of the Special Education Intervention Funds in the basic education institutions in Nigeria.
He disclosed this during a two-day interactive meeting of UBEC with UBEB Special Education Desk Officers (SEDOs), State Chairmen, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), State Delegates, Nigeria Association of Special Education Teachers ( NASETS), and the expected 2020/2021 Special Education Intervention Fund beneficiaries of basic education institutions in Nigeria held at the Board Headquarters in Port Harcourt recently.
Bobboyi, who was represented by the UBEC representative in Rivers State, Mr Isaac Ichenwo, noted that the Federal Government introduced the Special Education Programme and donated 2% of the UBE’s 2% Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) annually for the establishment of Special Education in the country, stated that the overall aim was to equalise educational opportunities for all children, irrespective of their physical, sensory, mental, psychological or emotional disabilities and socio-economic backgrounds.
According to the UBEC scribe, this action by the Federal Government was due to the records which showed that Nigerian children with different categories of disabilities in the basic education was very high.
“We must make deliberate sacrifices and take systematic actions to at least provide basic education individually to these children, especially those within school-going age in both public and private basic institutions”, he said.
He noted that in the last five years that implementation on the Education Intervention Funds was conducted, reports have indicated that efforts are being made to provide education for children with special needs in public and private basic education institutions.
This, he said, includes providing support funds for new constructions, renovation of classrooms, purchase of facilities and equipment amounting to billions of naira.
While noting that the information gathered on the implementation were not in line with the inclusive education implementation framework to justify the resources, he said much more was needed to lead these actions into the attainment of inclusive education objective as envisioned in the National Policy on Education (NPE) “because funding and changes in policies cannot be proficient unless properly directed by the right implementation guidelines”.
The UBEC Scribe expressed optimism that with the experts presented to guide them in the presentation, they “would no doubt demonstrate maximum cooperation in ensuring that the objectives of organising the interactive meeting was well achieved.
“I am convinced that effective inclusive educational system would bring about the implementation of individualized education opportunities for categories of children with disabilities, as well as provide a common learning environment for all learners.
“It will present a clear vision and a well stated mission geared towards achieving exceptional learning performance, including high productivity and innovation among all categories of learners”, he stated.
In her address on behalf of the Executive Chairman of the Board, Ven. Fyneface Akah, at the interactive meeting, the Director, Special Programme, Mrs Flora Timon, welcomed the participants to the “Train the Trainer” workshop and enjoined them to take the training seriously.
“This is the first time in the history of UBEC that beneficiaries of Intervention Funds are being trained”, she noted, and urged them to go back and impact same knowledge to the teachers.