Expert implores Lagos government to implement inclusive school development policy

An educationist, Dr Adebukola Adebayo has asked Lagos State government to strengthen the monitoring system in all relevant agencies to ensure full implementation of the Inclusive Schools Development Plan, the Lagos State Inclusive Education Policy and the relevant provisions of the Lagos State Special People’s Law, 2011.He said this at a roundtable on Inclusive Education organised by the Human Development Initiative (HDI), with support of Action Aids.

Delivering a paper titled: “The status of Inclusive Education in Lagos State; Assessing implementation of existing legal and policy frameworks”, Adebayo said most of the inclusive primary school units in Lagos do not practise inclusion, as most of the students are not placed in same classrooms with other non-disabled children.

“There are efforts to mainstream children with mild disabilities, such as the blind, deaf and physical disabilities, into regular classes.”He suggested that a comprehensive institutional, infrastructural and manpower audit of all inclusive schools in Lagos be conducted to determine specific and general needs. He added that a medium and long-term Inclusive Schools Development Plan should be drafted in line with the State’s Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS) and State Development Plan (SDP).

Adebayo stated that the development plan should prioritise needs to be provided in the state’s annual budget, noting that special teachers in most inclusive units sometimes use personal resources to meet some of the needs of pupils and students.

He added that virtually all the schools experience delay in the release of monthly operational funds, while there is relatively low support from local councils to most of the schools.