18th July, 2014
By Simon Ateba
Children living with disabilities have the same rights to education as do all other children in Nigeria, Director, De Beautiful Beginning School, Mrs. Olubukola Ogunleye, has said.
Ogunleye, who spoke during the school annual award and prize giving day, said children with disabilities should be given the same priority, love and care as other children in Nigeria, and should be equally equipped via education to confront the challenges of tomorrow.
She acknowledged that there was no child with disabilities in her school yet, but explained that provision has been made to accommodate them.
She said teachers have been trained to cater for them and promised that they will be given the same attention in case their parents decides to enroll them.
Ogunleye said De Beautiful Beginning teaches children to be responsible citizen in knowledge and in ethics. “To this end, we look up to responsible citizen in our society to serve as role model for our pupils,” she said.
It was for that reason, she said, that the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, CCD, was chosen for this year’s Role Model Award.
She noted that the award and prize giving day was a way of recognising the most outstanding students and an avenue to bring together students and parents.
“While we give very high quality education to all our children, the award for prize giving ceremony is given to acknowledge most outstanding and upcoming performances in different areas,” she aid.
The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, whose founder suffered harrowing experience in the hands of the rebel warlords in Sierra Leone who amputated his two hands, called on Nigerians to do more to accommodate children with disabilities.
The centre said disabilities could be acquired via accident and everyone could fall victim.
The school, located in Magodo area of Lagos, western Nigeria, caters for Creche, Pre-school and Primary school children. It runs the England and Wales Curriculum using the Montessori Method of teaching.