FCTA to provide more special schools, teaching aids for the deaf – Akinjide

The Federal Capital Territory Administration will provide more special needs schools and specialised teaching aids for the deaf in the nation’s capital, the Minister of State for the FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, said on Tuesday.
Akinjide made this known in Abuja during the celebration of the International Week of the Deaf held at the National Human Rights Commission.
Akinjide, who was represented by her Special Assistant on Social Development, Mrs. Uche Nwafor, said FCTA was working assiduously through its Education Secretariat to build more special schools to meet the increasing number of children with special needs in the FCT.
She said: “The FCT Administration has carried out deliberate actions towards providing an all inclusive society that provides sufficient attention to the physically challenged in our mist. Our recent survey of special needs children in the FCT shows a total number of 3,257 pupils and students who have one form of impairment or the other. Out of this, 1,657 are male while 1,600 are female.
“The survey further showed that there are 89 Special Education Teachers distributed in the regular and special schools. Out of this number, 24 teach at the School for the Deaf which was established in 1991 with 60 pupils. By 2008, the enrolment increased to 361. The Administration has equipped the school with specialised teaching aids such as audiometers, thermoform machines, brailing machines, embossers and hearing aids, among others.
“The Administration through the Education Secretariat is providing more special needs schools, more teaching and learning aides for the deaf in our schools and deploying teachers with background in Special Education to areas of need.”
Speaking on the theme of the international week of the deaf titled “Sign Bilingualism and Empowerment are Human Rights of the Deaf Persons”, the minister said it was a clarion call to everyone to recognise the basic rights of persons with any form of disabilities.
She stressed the need for Nigeria and Nigerians to strive towards building a more inclusive society where the benefits for the deaf and persons with disabilities were guaranteed.
Akinjide explained: “Sign Bilingualism provides solutions to challenges which are being faced by persons with hearing impairment. The deaf people principally depend on sign language for understanding the concepts; this is same for the students too. But, the quality of education given to our deaf children has been poor because of the limited number of teachers available in sign language.
“Our society has yet to understand the cultural and linguistic needs of the deaf community. It has been seen that deaf children learn best in sign language. They should be given the opportunity to develop sign language. A sign bilingual approach encourages the involvement of deaf as well as hearing people.”