Ololade Adeyanju/
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has approved the renaming of 19 special schools across state, following an appeal by an indigenes and public affairs analyst, Prince Adetayo Adekunle.
Adekunle had written to the governor in June 2020 to draw his attention to the discriminatory nature of the names given to the affected schools.
In his letter, Adekunle observed that the common practice of using the particular nature of students’ disability to name their schools, such as, “School for the Deaf, School for the Handicapped, School for the Blind”, etc, was “discriminatory as well as derogatory”.
He also called Makinde’s attention to the relevant Constitutional, Statutory & International Enactments, which established the fact that such names constitute a breach of the fundamental rights of the students.
He therefore appealed to the governor to take steps to redressing the situation.
Consequently, in a letter dated October 20, 2021 and signed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, the state expressed its approval of Adekunle’s request.
The letter stated that the state government looked deeply into the request by Adekunle and resolved to approve the renaming of all special schools in the state.
The government thanked Adekunle for the initiative and also wished him well in his endeavours.
Following this decision, the state government, yesterday, performed the official presentation of the new names of the schools in a ceremony held at the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.
The ceremony was conducted by the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Abiodun AbdurRaheem. Others present included, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Disability Matters, Ayo Adekambi, as well as the chairpersons of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), who were both represented, as well as other stakeholders in the Education Sector.
In their respective speeches, the Chair of the state’s Association of Special Teachers, representative of the National Association of the Blind and the Headteachers of the affected schools expressed appreciation to both the state government and Adekunle.
In his remarks, Adekunle noted that posterity would judge the governor and his government kindly for acceding to his request.
Consequently, some of the schools such as, Home School for the Handicapped, HLA Compound, Agodi Gate, Ibadan, will now bear HLA Special Basic School.
Oyo School for the Handicapped, is now Oyo Special Basic School, Durbar, Oyo.
Community School for the Handicapped, is now Community Special Basic School, Oke Ora, Ogbomoso.
Handicapped Special School Saki, is now Special Basic School Saki.
School for the Handicapped, Ekunle, Iseyin is now Special Basic School, Ekunle, Iseyin, and so on.
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