Recommendations At both federal and state levels, the Nigerian
levels, for instance by using the Washington Group
Government needs to work much harder to improve
set of questions.
inclusion through the following recommended
•
measures:
Improving the ability of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) to collect and gather information on children with disabilities, using the
1. Continue to embed inclusive education into policy
UNICEF Inclusive EMIS guidance which provides
planning, budgeting and monitoring.
guidance on rights-based language and the data required to inform policy, financing and the
•
Ensuring that every State develops their own inclusive education policy in order to embed the
•
allocation of resources. •
Committing to using EMIS to collect better data on
NPIEN within state level plans.
the availability of educators and education support
Creating relevant departments and agencies at
personnel, their preparedness and support to
federal and state levels, and developing strategic
practice disability-inclusive education.
implementation plans in line with the NPEIN. •
•
•
Raising awareness of the NPIEN among state
education.
the state level.
Currently, the Nigerian education system is not
Improving coordination of government and non-
aligned to deliver inclusive education. The federal,
government actors, and donors, to support the
state and local levels need to work together to
implementation of the NPIEN and state level plans.
deliver inclusive education.
Establishing an inter-ministerial technical working group to coordinate implementation of the policy
•
3. Improve alignment of the systems behind inclusive
officials to encourage them to adapt the policy at
•
Improving collaboration between the federal and
on inclusive basic education.
state ministries of education in areas of policy
Strengthening sharing of good practice and
development, capacity-building, institutional
experience across States to support adaptation
development and infrastructural development.
and implementation of the NPIEN.
•
Improving clarity of the coordination and administration structures for inclusive education
2. Ensure more robust and accurate data to improve
between the UBEC, SUBEB and the local
planning and budgeting for inclusive education and
government education authorities to effectively
allow monitoring change.
improve inclusion.
A lack of reliable data makes effective planning
•
Increasing understanding at all levels of
and monitoring nearly impossible. Improvements in
government, and within the education sector more
data, at state and federal levels, should focus on:
broadly, of the concept of inclusive education (as separate from special needs education); building
•
Ensuring relevant data is produced on children
a commitment for inclusive education strategies
with disabilities, and that this is broken down
within the broader education community by raising
by type of disability, so that specific needs can
awareness and championing the implementation of
be addressed in education sector planning, and
existing national inclusive education policies and
inclusion monitored. This can be done using
strategies.
standardised, comparable data collection methods that meet international standards, using the
4. Address the high pupil-teacher ratios which
Washington Group child-functioning module, to
prevent teachers from practicing inclusion in the
collect information on disability at the household
classroom, focused on teacher deployment to
level, school attendance and other relevant
areas of most need.
demographic data for planning purposes. Donors should support the development of better systems for data gathering in Nigeria at state and federal
32
•
Recruiting and training significantly more teachers and education support personnel (including those
THE BEDROCK OF INCLUSION: WHY INVESTING IN THE EDUCATION WORKFORCE IS CRITICAL TO THE DELIVERY OF SDG4
