The Lagos State Government has commended Festus Fajemilo Foundation (FFF) for its continuous support and partnership which has been addressing the challenges bedeviling the delivery of Inclusive Education in the state.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo gave the commendation at the opening ceremony of a two-day training session for teachers which was organized by the consortium of FFF, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (Lagos State Chapter) and Daughters of Charity, St. Vincent De Paul, with support from Liliane Fonds.
The training on Cooperative teaching featured Special teachers, Regular teachers and Head of Schools from 10 schools; seven secondary schools and 3 primary schools.
The Commissioner who was represented by Mrs. Olusola Somoye, Director Special Education, Lagos State Ministry of Education, noted that the Lagos State Government has taken efforts to advance inclusive education, part of the reasons it has been opened to partnerships with Non-Governmental Organizations like FFF.
She said, “Inclusive Education is not an easy task but the state government has not shied away from making efforts to improve Inclusive Education to ensure that no child is left behind.
“As at close of last term, we had 44 inclusive schools and 5 special schools and SUBEB on their own has added more inclusive units in this new academic session and I wonder how many state in the federation have this.”
She assured that the government understands that there are gaps and efforts are being made to address the gaps, noting that the capacity building would also ensure that the gaps are removed.
“FFF conducted a mapping exercise of our schools and it helped to reveal the challenges we are facing and we decided to bridge these gaps and that’s part of the reason this training session is happening,” Mrs. Somoye explained.
Also, the Executive Chairman of the Lagos State universal Basic Education Board, Hon. Wahab Alawiye-King who was represented by Mr. S.I. Jibefun, expressed delight about the training and also appreciated FFF which is one of the NGO that has partnered with SUBEB in recent times.
He urged teachers to take the opportunity to learn and understand the concept of inclusive education, especially because of the regular teachers who do not have a deep understanding of it.
Earlier, the Executive Director, FFF, Mr. Afolabi Fajemilo, appreciated the support of the Lagos State Government throughout the project.
He explained that the 4-year project is aimed at improving learning outcomes for children with disabilities and utilizing the scarce human resource in the Education sector.
The training sessions were facilitated by Dr. Dada-Olu Shonibare, Head South West zone, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council and Dr. Philip Adeleke of the Department of Education, University of Calabar.