In a bid to address the need for inclusive education, a team of young leaders recently stepped forward with an exciting initiative called ‘Project STEMAbility’ to drive impactful change by providing access to mainstream education to children living with disabilities.
The initiative spearheaded by the Lagos Education Team of the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative of the United States Government in Nigeria Cohort 2024/2025 consisting of Ileri Oladele, Rhoda Ayo-Simeon, Shalom Anurigwo, Otito-Jesu Ayeni was led by Aanuoluwapo Ojewunmi.
As Nigeria’s education system continues to face multiple challenges, the barriers are even more daunting for children living with disabilities. Many special schools in the country operate with little or no access to modern learning tools. Subjects like Science and Mathematics are often reduced to theory because schools lack adaptive materials that cater to diverse learning needs, and despite national policies on inclusive education, children with disabilities are still left out of major education reforms, particularly in the areas of STEM.
The Lagos Education Team of the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative cited this challenge, and put together a high-impact, inclusive STEM Education Project, aimed at engaging children living with disabilities, introducing them to basic STEM concepts and careers, while donating adaptive STEM learning materials, and training teachers on inclusive teaching methods aligned with global practices. Project STEMAbility reached 30 children with disabilities and 20 special needs teachers across the Ile-Anu Pre-School for the Physically and Mentally Challenged in Surulere, Lagos and the Atanda-Olu School for the Physical and Mentally Challenged.
Ojewunmi who serves as Team Lead, The Lagos Education Team of the Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative, expressed her delight at the outcomes of the Project, believing it further emphasized the need for all-inclusive education across all levels.
“Beyond the numbers, the real success of Project STEMAbility was in how it demonstrated that inclusive education is not only possible; it is essential. Our project team showed what is achievable through leadership, teamwork and partnership by delivering a project that left a lasting impression on students and educators alike,” she said.
Ojewunmi believes that the core of Project STEMAbility was all about showing many children living with disabilities the many possibilities available to them in STEM: “For a country where over 95 percent of children with disabilities do not proceed to secondary school, according to UNICEF, Project STEMAbility has proven that change is possible, even in the most underserved classrooms. This was not just another school outreach. It was a movement to empower young learners with the tools, the skills and the confidence to imagine a future where they too can become engineers, doctors, scientists, coders and creators,”
As a direct outcome of the project, a long-term partnership was secured between the Carrington Lagos Education Team and STEM4SPECIAL. Both bodies have committed to continuing their collaboration on future inclusive education projects in Lagos and beyond.
Project STEMAbility is now being positioned as a model for similar community-based interventions across Nigeria. The team is now looking to scale the project to more schools and advocate for the integration of inclusive STEM teaching methods into public education policy.
