Some educationists have urged proprietors of schools to encourage children with special needs in their schools to always interact with other children during learning and other school activities.
They said this would afford such children the opportunities to quickly overcome their physical defects and feel a sense of belonging with their peers.
A school proprietress, Mrs. Mabel Babasola, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that exposing children with special needs to other children would help them overcome their defects easily.
According to her, they will be able to also learn fast with the help of specialists, who come to check them in schools from time to time.
“You find out that such children adapt well with other children, they should be allowed to play with other children,’’ she said.
Babasola, who is the proprietress of Maria Breed Schools, Ajah, said that school proprietors should also grant rebate in school fees to parents of children with special needs.
With that such parents would be encouraged to bring their children for enrolment in schools, she said.
She said her school had been granting such parents rebate on school fees because the parents of these children with special needs would still pay specialists to assist them at home.
Also speaking, Mrs Jomion Shogbola, Education Consultant, Straitgate College, Ishara Remo, Ogun, said that her school accommodated children with special needs.
Shogbola said that teachers in her school were tutored to understand the challenges of such children.
According to her, any child with special needs should not be out of school due to his or her challenges but should be allowed to mingle with other children.
She said that she had been inviting specialists to her school to help the children either in speech or sight deficiency and above all to overcome their challenges.
“We have resources that can aid them with spelling and reading and a lot of counselling is done to discourage them from feeling inferior,’’ she said.
Also, Mrs Monsurat Etti-Thomas, Proprietress, Bolafade Nursery Primary School, Lagos, said that her school had no pupils with special needs at present.
She said her school was willing to accept such children.