The COVID-19 Pandemic and Education during a State of Emergency: Re-assessing the Right to Education of Children with Disabilities in Nigeria
| Author | Olaniyi Felix Olayinka |
| DOI | 10.25159/2522-6800/10175 |
| Published date | 01 June 2022 |
| Date | 01 June 2022 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
Article
Souther n African Public Law
https://d oi.org/10.25159/2522-6800/10175
https://u nisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/ SAPL
ISSN 2522-6800 (Online)
#10175 | 20 pages
© Unisa Press 2022
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Education during a
State of Emergency: Re-assessing the Right to
Education of Children with Disabilities in Nigeria
Olaniyi Felix Olayinka
Faculty of Law, Redeemer’s University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2335-797X
olayinkaf@run.edu.ng; niyilayinka@gmail.com
Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak ne cessitated UNESCO’s de claration of a state of
emergency regarding education. The physical and social distancing approach to
curb the spread of the virus made way f or the adoption of distance learning,
which was meant to be inclusive. This article examines conceptual and historical
perspectives to determine whether distance education was adequate towards
acting in the best interests of the child with disabilities. The needs of disabled
children may vary and ‘a one size fits all’ approach cannot always satisfy these,
especially not in an environment where social barriers exist. During the state of
emergency, it was expected that the Nigerian government would provide an
environment where children with disabilities received the desired support. The
article also seeks to establish whether children with disabilities had access to
digital and mass communication devices to connect them to distance education
and also if the state of infrastructure was satisfactory in coping with the
obligations of the government towards inclusive education before and after the
pandemic, especially under COVID-19 distance education. Furthermore, the
article will focus on the level of tolerance and co-existence between able-bodied
children and those with disab ilities, comparing the pre- and post-COVID-19
eras. It investigates whether inclusive education and peaceful co-existence could
be achieved by adopting indigenous languages in schools and having recourse
to African legal tradition.
Keywords: Access and social barriers; African legal tradition; children living with
disabilities; distance learning; inclusive education; prevention of COVID-
19
Olayinka
2
Introduction
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Coronavirus
(COVID-19) a global pandemic.
1
At the time, the absence of a vaccine made the option
of managing the highly infectious virus impossible.
2
The pandemic could only be curbed
by the production of the right vaccine, which was pending
3
and by taking precautions
such as physical distancing, avoidance of mass gatherings, minimising the sharing of
objects and the routine cleaning of public spaces.
4
Against this background, the significance of education and how it was compromised by
the pandemic should be con sidered. Article 15 of the Child’s Rights Act, 2 003 and
section 2(1) of the Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 place an obligation on the
government to provide a free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child
of primary and junior secondary school age. The United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) declared a state o f emergency with regard to
education to curb the spread of COVID-19, by recommending the adoption of distance
learning programmes to fill the vacuum created by the pandemic in the education
sector.
5
UNESCO directed states to formulate policies and legal frameworks to achieve goals
such as the prevention of the spread and transmission of the Coronavirus, the
minimisation of the impact of school closure by the adoption of distance learning and
finally, that a state’s response to d istance e ducation should b e inclusive.
6
The three
strategic objectives are linked to the effect that COVID-19 had on the school system,
1
WHO, ‘Naming the Coronavirus Disease (COVID -19) and the Virus that Causes it.’
2
Laura Spinney, ‘Coronavirus Vaccine: When Will it be Ready?’. (April 2020)
Organisation eventually endorsed vaccines s uch as Pfizer/BioNTech, Astrazeneca-SK Bio, Serum
Institute of India, Janssen and Moderna vaccines for emergency use and addition of the Sinopharm.
See WHO, ‘WHO Lists Additional COVID-19 Vaccine for Emergency use and Issues Interim Policy
Recommendations’ 7 May 2021 07-05-2021-who-lists-additional-
COVID-19-vaccine-for-emergency-use-and-issues-interim-policy-recommendations> accessed 20
October 2021.
3
CDC, ‘Coronavirus Disease 2019 COVID-19 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’ 11
February 2020 oronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html> accessed 26 June 2020.
4
Roy M A nderson and others, ‘How Will Country-Based Mitigation Measures Influence the Course
of the COVID-19 Epidemic?’ March 2020
October 2021.
5
UNESCO, ‘290 Million Students out of School due to COVID-19: UNESCO Releases First G lobal
Numbers and Mobilizes Respons e’ < https://en.unesco.org/news/290-million-students-out-school-
due-COVID-19-unesco-releases-first-global-numbers-and-mobilizes> accessed 20 October 2021;
UNESCO, ‘COVID-19 Educational Disruption and Response’
June 2021.
6
UNESCO, ‘Right to Education’ <https://en.unesco.org/themes/right-to-education> accessed 21
March 2022.
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