Special Report X-ray Learning and Plight of Children with Disabilities

Despite being denied access to learning in an inclusive environment with their able bodied peers, children with disabilities may be difficult obtaining quality basic education considering the huge facility gap in the available special schools.

Among the three Southwest states of Osun,  Ekiti and Ondo, Osun  state has the highest numbers of schools for persons with special needs, consisting of eight primary and one secondary schools.

The schools are located in Osogbo, Ikirun, Ile Ife, Ilesa, Ikoyi and Modakeke.

Ekiti State has three of such primary schools in Ikere, Ido and Ikoro Ekiti, while that of Ondo State are located in Akure, Owo, Ikare and Okeigbo.

In Osun State, the school for persons with special needs in Osogbo integrates children with all forms of disabilities, including the deaf, blind and mentally retarded who are only separated by their classes.

The school,  with a population of over two hundred has a six rooms hostel accommodation, which is obviously a block of classroom converted for that purpose.

There is no attached toilet or bathroom, which leaves the physically challenged with no other choice than to often trek about fifty metres to the only pit toilet in the area.

How do the pupils with such peculiar conditions,  particularly the blind cope at night, even with no street light within the school premises which spread across over an acre of land.

A virtually impaired pupil in primary six, Mr Toyosi Olowokere explained that anytime he wanted to use the toilet his friend, who is also deaf, would lead him, but sometimes he might refuse.

A female teacher who did not want to be mentioned also corroborated this position.

Another challenge in all the schools visited in the three states is that most of the blind pupils do not have the guiding cane,  while on very few handicapped have a wheel chair.

The onus again, this time falls on their deaf and dumb peers who would carry them or guide them to classes, while some others crawl as witnessed by Radio Nigeria correspondent.

Most of the schools lack medical facilities.

The only sick-bay in the Osogbo institution, which was donated by a non governmental organisation in 2013, has no bed, nor drug, while there is no health official in the school.

The schools are also lack proper security, with no perimeter fencing ,while the landscape posed a challenge to the students.

Chairman of the Nigeria Association of the Blind, Osun State Chapter, who is also a teacher in the school, Mr Oluwafemi Stephen added that all the nine schools lacked adequate classrooms, teaching materials, functional vehicles, hostels, toilets among others.

Radio Nigeria correspondent also came across the Osun State Commissioner for Education, Mr Kola Young, who paid an unscheduled visit to the school.

Mr Young agreed that there was an infrastructure deficit in the schools with assurance that something would be done.

On why there are very few intervention projects of the State Universal Education  Board in the schools, the commissioner explained that SUBEB projects were being shared among the one thousand primary schools in  the state.