• Don’t lock up such kids in the room
Gabriel Dike
About 20 per cent of the nation’s children require special needs education, Chief Executive Officer of HIIMA International, Mrs. Nike Agunbiade-Etiebet has disclosed.
The HIIMA boss, who said this at HIIMA business opportunities meeting in Lagos, demanded that schools must run an inclusive education to cater for kids with special needs.
She also revealed that most schools in the country do not have trained teachers on special needs education and urged government at all levels to pay attention to this category of pupils.
“Every school requires specialised teachers in special needs education. Most schools don’t have special needs teachers. About 20 per cent of school children have special needs. Children with special needs are good pupls but needs special attention,’’ she said.
According to her, a child with special needs can contribute meaningfully to the development of the world and advised parents with such kids not to lock them up in the room but rather take them to schools that run an inclusive education.
“Government at all levels does not make provision for children with special needs. In our centres, we enourage teachers to practice inclusive education. Ninety eight per cent of schools in Nigeria do not admit children with special needs.
“Schools do not practice inclusive education because it is expensive. Children with special needs must be integrated during some subjects. I suggest government to give 10 per cent of admission for children with special need,’’ she explained.
Agunbiade-Etitte advised that special-need children must be integrated with other school kids while parents who have such kids should be trained on how to handle and not lock them in a room.
The educationist who only three universities in Nigeria run course on special need, expressed hope that government would one day pay attention to special-need education.
Giving reasons why HIIMA was established, she said it was a different brand of teaching philosophy meant to teach children with love to enable them make positive change in the World and reach their potentials.
HIIMA was based on our experience in the education sector.
“We have teachers’ training centres in Lagos with special emphasis on special need education. We hope to expand to other states to promote this kind of education philosophy.’’
Agunbiade-Etitte called on government to compel schools to practice inclusive education and tasked teachers to help children unleash their potentials.
She disclosed that HIIMA has over 120 books written by different authors to reach out to children.
The educationist also revealed that HIIMA aim to introduce schools owners, teachers and others to various opportunities in the education sector, including traditional teaching, running a school, publishing, book sales, learning support, enhancement programme, edutainment and franchises.
She listed the benefit of HIIMA education to include helping to discover the strength and weakness in child’s learning by mapping his/her pevious knowledge, opens the teachers/parent to knowing child’s learning characteristics and learning style.
Others are opportunity for structured teaching, wide reading resources, one-on-one teaching, child can work at own pace and control his errors by referring to both text and workbook, allows access to international curriculum that is age and class appropriate, improves child’s previous rate of progress and firm foundation in grammar from preschool.
She also used the opportunity to introduce a busness education game called “The Chairman’s Empire’’ which is meant for children to think and acquire mathematical skills, stressing “children must be made to think of how to create wealth.’’