Sightsavers Nigeria has received international recognition and an award for its pioneering initiatives towards improving accessibility and quality of primary education for children with disabilities.
The prestigious award was given by the Zero Project, a global organization which brings together policy makers, corporate organizations and disability experts in recognition of innovative disability initiatives.
The Zero Project recognised Sightsavers’ meaningful engagement with organizations of people with disabilities (OPDs) and its role in testing a locally led blueprint for inclusive education in Jema’a, Kaduna State of Nigeria.
The ground-breaking blueprint, ‘Support Mainstreaming Inclusion so all Learn Equally’ (SMILE) project, was led by Sightsavers Nigeria leveraging on the skills of a consortium of experts including Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), local and national governments, education practitioners, international non-governmental organizations, and research institutes to achieve a highly impactful feat in inclusive education in Kaduna.
The SMILE project with a timeline spanning May 2019 to September 2023 remarkably strengthened the educational system with a focus on support for children with disabilities in schools. As a result of the project, some 280 children with disabilities were enrolled in schools – with school attendance rates for children with disabilities spiking from 58% to 68%.
SMILE also trained no fewer than 124 teachers and eight head-teachers on up-to-date inclusive education practices, including how to administer the Child Functioning Module (developed by the Washington Group/UNICEF) to identify functional difficulties in children during enrolment. Some 40 teachers received instruction on effective teaching techniques and assessment, as well as in use of braille and sign language.
Commenting on the award, Dr Sunday Isiyaku, Country Director of Sightsavers Nigeria said: “We are immensely proud to receive the Zero Project award for our inclusive education work and strong partnerships with organizations of people with disabilities (OPDs) such as Women with Disability Self Reliance Foundation, and the State Ministry of Education amongst other partners. This recognition reaffirms our belief that every child, regardless of disability, deserves access to quality education. Together we can achieve our goal of ensuring that no child is left behind in education”.
Also commenting, Johannes Trimmel, programme director for Inclusive Futures said: “It means so much to have our work recognised on a global stage by the Zero Project awards. People with disabilities and their representative organizations need to be included in development programmes to shape and transform the societies that we live in. This recognition motivates us to amplify efforts in providing education for children with disabilities.”
The Zero Project awards recognizes organisations that have reduced barriers for people with disabilities through innovative and scalable solutions. Some 1,000 people from 100 countries attended the annual conference at the United Nations’ Office in Vienna, where Sightsavers Nigeria received the Zero Project award.
Sightsavers won the award in partnership with the International Disability Alliance (IDA), a consortium of more than 20 organisations working together to ensure people with disabilities are included in development and humanitarian programmes. IDA’s education projects integrate children with disabilities into mainstream schools operate in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Tanzania. The project has resulted in increased enrolment and retention rates of children with disabilities in mainstream schools – with nearly 1,700 children with disabilities supported to access education.