Charity founder calls for education for all in Nigeria

As millions of children in Nigeria are preparing to go back to school, the founder and CEO of the charity Focus on Disability Foundation UK, Abbey Paseda, is calling on the Nigerian government to ensure that all children including disabled children, have access to a quality education.

Abbey said “In Nigeria disabled children are more likely to be out of school than any other group of children. Often children with disabilities face stigma and discrimination and are kept at home. And if they do go to school, they face a lack of specialist teachers and resources.”

Last year, Abbey travelled to Nigeria to visit the special schools his charity has been supporting for a number of years. In Nigeria Abbey met with many children who have been supported to go to school through the provision of specially trained teachers and the distribution of equipment such as aids to create Braille and instruction books for deaf children called Joy of Signing.

On his return from Nigeria, Abbey said “a quality education is one of the keys to empowerment, raising self-esteem, gaining employment and lifting people out of poverty. Our charity is passionate about the right to education for all disabled children. The teachers l met in Nigeria are much more prepared now than in the past but they lack the resources to teach effectively in the classroom. Our charity hopes to bring about change by supporting more schools and teachers in Nigeria to teach disabled children”.

“We would urge the public to visit our website www.fodfoundation.org to find out about the impact of our work in Nigeria supporting disabled children and adults”.

Contact Abbey

apaseda@yahoo.com