Visual impairment is not the only concern of the School for the Blind Children located at 15, Audu Ogbeh Street, off Asheik Jarma Street, Abuja.
Their environment is quiet and serene but there are mountains to climb if they must have good education. For instance, the students’ apartments are overcrowded because their population keeps increasing.
Their study materials, brailled books, for instance, cost far more than the ones for sighted learners.
Also, they study in the dark because there is no power generating set for them.
Their motto, “Slowly but surely for the Blind”, conspicuously written on their signpost, is ironical, as their education seems to be in reverse gear.
Though the school is strategically positioned, not too far from the Central Business District (CBD), it is rarely noticed, neither are its dire needs.
Some of the items the school needs are hostel blocks, food, study materials such as brail paper, and braille machine, among others. Another important issue about the school is its increasing population and co-habitation of mature students in single apartments.
Despite its location close to the seat of power, the needs of this special group remained unattended to.
Unfortunately, getting the learning materials for these special students could be very expensive, unlike what obtained in the conventional schools. While a textbook sells for about N1,000, the same textbook with brail may sell for N4,000.
In the circumstances, the indigent pupils mostly depend on philanthropists, donors and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to survive.
Our correspondent gathered that the students study in darkness, a situation that compounds their already pitiable situation.
The school has no alternative power supply such as power generating set.
“In the first place, we don’t read with light which is not the right thing. If there is darkness and a snake is crawling, how will one know? But since there is nothing we can do, we resign to fate,” the Assistant Head teacher, Academics, Mrs. Anne Ekandem said.
Incidentally, our correspondent was seated when one of the members of the support staff brought in a five-litre keg of kerosene, while another member of staff was asked to take it to the hostel.
From all indications, they were already used to the poor reading environment as efforts to get immediate attention of the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) SUBEB yielded no result.
“They don’t have any option. They do their prep in the cover of darkness. It is not as if we like it but that’s the best option for now.
“Even, they eat in the dark; there is nothing they can do.
“If there is no light, you will see the matron bathing some of them with torch light,” Ekandem said.
The school authorities also pleaded to the authorities to supply them with plastic tables and chairs. The management said such gesture would reduce the possibility of the students harming themselves.
“Getting some of these materials is challenging. The government had tried in their way. Like this brail, it is not something you can just pick, they are things you place special order for and they can be very expensive,” one of the members of staff said.
Expectations from
the pupils
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that all the pupils have the zeal to learn. Wondering why the pupils showed much enthusiasm despite their conditions, the assistant head teacher said: “Initially when the blindness set in, they must have been asking, where this will get us to? Just like their parents.
“They have the quest for education and they have realised that the sky is their limit such that they can compete with other students in other schools.”
Sadly, John Kaura, a 32-year-old student has been blind for 22 years. He was the oldest among other students in the rehabilitation centre of the school. Yet, he was full of optimism. He wants to be a lawyer as soon as he finishes his programme. Obviously, he appeared much more than his age. His school uniform was no different from the other younger boys and girls. He was putting on a black pair of sandals with a sagged black pair of socks.
Narrating his ordeal, he said he became blind at the age of 11.
“I’m here to learn. I was in Kaduna when the incident happened at the age of 11. I went with my grandmother to the market but unfortunately, I missed my way and somehow I had accident at the railway crossing. I would have been here for long but someone later told me about this school,” he said. On his plans after graduation, he said: “I want to become a lawyer or mass communicator”.
John urged other disabled persons to embrace education in order to be self-reliant rather than waiting for supports that may not come.
A 12-year-old student, Esther Nnabuife, praised the school for showing them love. Her colleague, Honest Oyeama, 17, joined the school last year. He described the activities as challenging, even as they are encouraging. He plans to be a Sport Journalist. They all have wonderful ambitions and interesting stories.
Why the school
was established
Established in 1991, the FCT School for the Blind was set up to provide education for the less-privileged persons; especially the blind. Admission into the school is free and government is expected to provide the necessary items in the school. Admission into the school is almost on daily basis while government takes care of the teaching and non-teaching members of staff.
“We run a primary education and we run a rehabilitation centre for adults or teenagers; who became blind in the course of their education; whether tertiary at level or while working.
“It can be very challenging, especially when they are fresh students. They feel hopeless and don’t know what life has in store for them. They feel they have come to the end of the road. But by the time they finish their courses of study here, they are full of hope, ready to go into the larger world to face the challenges of nation-building,” a member of staff said.
She attributed poor background of the pupils as one of the major challenges the school experiences.
“When they are leaving, we still try to provide some of the necessary materials for them to take along to the secondary school because they cannot get the same provision they got here,” our source said.
According to her, there is no special secondary school for the blind, so their interest could not be guaranteed.
Read and Play
All works and no play, they say, makes Jack a dull boy. Aside from the conventional learning process, the pupils also engage in extra-curricular activities. They were said to engage in foot balling, bead making, necklaces and soap making. Also, some private individuals also visit the school to teach them how to bake bread while they participate in literary and debating competitions, singing and melo-drama.
“We need a lot of learning materials such as the brail paper. We need enough seats. We prefer the student-type of plastic chairs so it won’t tear their clothes.
“They live here. We feed them in the morning, afternoon and night. We don’t have a generator in the hostel. What if they take the power, you will see the matron bathing them with torch light.
“They do it in the cover of darkness,” she said.
However, the school management called for supports from humanitarians, corporate organisations, NGOs, and faith-based organisations (FBOs), among others to assist the less-privilege children.
Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the Chairman, FCT SUBEB to comment on the matter were unproductive.
