‘Access To Tech’ll Boost Opportunities For Children With Disabilities’

Education stakeholders, including teachers, have been urged to use technology to improve access to learning among disadvantaged children, including the physically challenged.
Speaking at the July edition of EdTech Mondays, an initiative of Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Co-Creation Hub, participants held that the use of technology for teaching and learning would ensure equity among learners.
At the session titled: “Technology as an enabler for equity and inclusion in education,” held recently, the Assistant Education Officer, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Helen Akintemi, said the organisation sees technology as a tool to drive inclusion among refugees.
Akintemi noted that UNHCR, as a non-governmental organisation, has been at the forefront of safeguarding the rights and well-being of refugees and internally displaced persons in Nigeria through technology deployment.
While appreciating the role of partnership in delivering education to physically challenged children, Akintemi noted that government support, alongside other partners, was instrumental to the successful implementation of digital projects among refugees.
Founder, Keeping it Real Foundation, Bitebo Gogo, explained that the organisation’s decision to deploy technology for this group of children was to guarantee their access to learning.
Gogo noted that the donation of books by the organisation has inspired change and confidence among children in low-income communities and the physically challenged.
He said the foundation is already making a significant impact in the lives of children with disabilities by offering technology-driven learning platforms that would aid their learning.
Highlighting some of the challenges faced in deploying technology to this group of children, Gogo urged stakeholders to work towards improving advocacy against stereotypes, while also solving the problem of internet connectivity and power plaguing the country.
On his part, the founder of Kayode Alabi Leadership and Career Initiative, Kayode Alabi, said the organisation has been leveraging technology to enhance learning among children with disabilities and their teachers.
Alabi disclosed that the foundation has so far impacted over 6,500 children in underserved communities in Nigeria by helping them acquire 21st-century skills and other life skills.
Co-founder, Projects Enabled Africa, Ngozi Ukpai-Okoro, a visually impaired person, noted that the impact of technology cannot be over-emphasised given how much it has assisted her to access good education.