An NGO, Wikimedia Foundation, has advocated inclusive education system that would ease teaching and learning for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to make them realise their potential in the society. Ms Obiageli Ezeilo, Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Education and a Kiwix Ambassador, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Ezeilo said this informed the collaboration with the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) to promote the environment of inclusivity for PWDs.
“The Foundation believes in inclusion in education, and knowledge sharing among others. The Foundation will teach them how to use the platform to tell their stories. We will organise a series of trainings for them like digital literacy, volunteerism and so on. This is because the Persons With Disabilities believe that there is a misrepresentation of what disability is, so they need to educate people on disability issues and perspective’’, she said.
Ezeilo said one of the purposes of the collaboration with JONAPWD was to increase the visibility of the activities of Persons With Disabilities. JONAPWD is the umbrella organisation for PWDs.
“We will work together to amplify the voice of Persons with Disabilities, try to know their challenges, what they are doing and give them a platform that they can share their stories. We are from the Wikimedia Foundation; we are trying to document activities of those in the minority like Persons with Disabilities to carry them along on the platform because’’, Ezeilo said.
According to Ezeilo, Wiki for Minorities is a subsidiary of the Wikimedia Foundation projected towards minorities or those perceived to be minorities, thereby bridging the gap of inequality.
She said Wiki for Minorities Project was also aimed at creating an impactful awareness and giving a global presence to minorities in our societies.
According to Ezeilo, Wiki for Minorities is an initiative for the protection of cultural rights, preservation and dissemination of expressions of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of cultural minorities like PWDs.
She, therefore, said that the collaboration between Wiki for Minorities and JONAPWD would help to improve the ideologies, vision and mission of the two organisations in the open space.
According to Ms Elizabeth Sani, a JONAPWD staffer, it works towards achieving a society where equality, social justice, and equal rights of Persons with Disabilities are guaranteed.
She said that the vision of JONAPWD, which is mostly driven through projects, advocacy, and partnerships with relevant stakeholders, remained mostly under-reported.
