The Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Universal Education Board, (LASUBEB), Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King, has commended the Festus Fajemilo Foundation (FFF), a disability-focused organization, for its continuous efforts and contributions towards advancing inclusive education in Lagos State.
Hon. Alawiye-King gave the commendation during the presentation of the Cooperative Teaching Manual, a publication that was produced to address the challenges posed by inadequate special teachers and other relevant professionals in the implementation of Inclusive Education in Lagos state.
The Cooperative Teaching Manual was produced by the consortium of FFF, Lagos State Chapter of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul.
Speaking, Hon. Alawiye-King said, “we appreciate what you have done for us in the past, particularly at the height of COVID-19, you assisted us in the areas of training of teachers to ensure Children with Disabilities are not left behind.”
He also noted that, “the cooperative teaching manual will help to address some of the challenges affecting inclusive education in the state and it is also worthy to note that you have produced it in compliance to the provisions of Inclusive Education in Lagos State.”
The Chairman stressed that, “we are open to collaboration and partnerships and willing to work with your organization to transform the sector, especially regarding Inclusive Education.”
He also revealed that he has proposed the setting up of three inclusive units as parts of his efforts to address the challenges children with disabilities face in accessing inclusive schools.
“I presented to the Board that I want us to have more inclusive units in Ikorodu and the Board has approved the setting up of three inclusive units.”
Earlier, the Chairman, JONAPWD Lagos, Dr. Adebukola Adebayo revealed that, “It was observed that special teachers are very few and overstretched, and the government is doing so much to address this human resource challenge but there is a bit of gap.
“We decided to develop the cooperative teaching manual to help regular teachers and special education teachers fill the human resource gap. It is basically to tap into the existing resources to give quality education to children with disabilities.”
Dr. Adebayo thereafter noted that, “the manual will be used to guide the teachers on how they can cooperate to work together – help them to profile the children regularly and improve learning outcomes for children with disabilities.
On her part, Janet Adekuoroye, Programmes Officer, FFF while giving an overview of the project, mentioned that mainstream and special teachers will be trained on how to use the cooperative teaching manual.
“We want continuous support from SUBEB to enable us train the teachers so they can learn how to use the manual, monitor and support them technically so they can become trainers for others within their schools,” she added.