Dr. Sariat Adelakun, CEO, Science and Technology for Nigeria Persons with Special Needs Initiative has said Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics career should be for all irrespective of disability and urged teachers to teach students living with disabilities with keen interest.
Dr Adelakun made this known during a one day workshop on teaching Mathematics, Science and Diagrams to persons with visual impairment which was organized by Science and Technology for Nigeria Persons with Special Needs Initiative in collaboration with Human Development Initiatives.
Adelakun explained that, “all children deserve equal educational opportunity and they deserve a right choice of career and not what the society force them to do.”
Dr. Adelakun who’s also a Chief Lecturer, Federal College of Education (Sp) Oyo, urged teachers to adopt the use of STEM kit, which allows sighted teachers to teach mathematics, calculations and graph, while teaching students with visual impairment.
Dr. Adebukola Adebayo, Founder Human and Organizational Resources Development Center, HORDC said there is need for teachers to be inclusive and child centered in their teaching approach.
Dr Adebayo who is also a board member of the Lagos State Office of Disability Affairs, LASODA said the agency would be willing to make all the illustrative materials available in schools to help achieve inclusive education across Lagos State.
Special students from Queens College who appreciated the organizers of the program for the innovative materials which they believe would help them in their career development, want the federal government to make these materials available in the school.
One of the girls butteressed that, “in Queens college, there are sighted students and they are more than those who are visually impaired, we hope the government would consider us and do things which would favor us.”
The workshop which was attended by teachers from special schools and visually impaired students from schools across Lagos State was able to illustrate and demonstrate some resources that can be used to teach mathematics, science practicals and science diagram to persons with visual impairment.
