Special education reform in Nigeria: prospects and challenges

ABSTRACT

Nigeria has exerted tremendous and well‐documented efforts to address the problems confronting persons with special needs. One of these laudable efforts is the promulgation of Section 8 of the National Policy on Education, which gives guidelines for programmatic stability in special education. In its content, Section 8 is a piece de resistance; in practice, it is a national policy and not a national law instituted by legislation. In addition, it is plagued by endemic problems of culture, socio‐economic factors and politics. The government continues to be a military dictatorship that disallows procedural safeguards and freedom of advocacy. The nation continues to flounder in mediocrity and its divergent cultures consistently intrude in special education reform programmes. As a consequence, one is left with more questions than answers. In this paper, prospects and challenges facing special education reforms in Nigeria are discussed. In addition, recommendations are made for policy reforms and advancements in special education.