2016 Budget: Persons With Disabilities Call For Inclusive Education

The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWDs), an umbrella organisation for all disability organisations in Nigeria, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari over the N 77.1 billion allocation for the Universal Basic Education in the 2016 budget, saying this is indicative of the administration’s policy direction of eradicating all forms of illiteracy in the country for human capacity development towards economic growth.

The group however expressed worry that the UBE budget line may again be expended in a manner that excludes children with disabilities from benefiting despite its past funding practice of targeting special schools which is no longer working as it should be. It added that there was the need to make inclusive plans for persons with disabilities instead of current exclusion practice of targeting special schools which has been overstretched by the number of children with disabilities sent to such facility.