The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) on Tuesday urged Governor Chukwuma Soludo to implement policies to protect students with albinism from cancer in schools.
Comrade Ugochukwu Okeke, State Chairman of JONAPWD, made the appeal in Awka, Anambra state capital, during the 2023 albinism celebration organised by Anambra State Albinism Association (ASAA), with the theme “ensuring the inclusion of the voices of persons with albinism in all sectors of life.”
According to Okeke, policies should include allowing students with albinism to sit in front seats in their respective classes for easy access to lessons on class boards, wearing long-sleeved uniforms, and planting trees around schools for natural ventilation and other purposes.
We are calling on the State government through the ministry of education to make conscious efforts to include the people living with albinism in schools because some of them are not coming out due to these challenges. There are needs to make them seat in the front roles (seats) of their respective classes. This should be a policy so that it will be implemented in all schools; primary, secondary and tertiary.
You know that this will help them to easily access the class board. Also, there should be a policy to allow them wear long-sleeves to cover their skins very well and prevent exposition of their skins to sun and cancer. They should equally be encouraged to wear caps. The teachers and schools managements should also learn to plant trees around their schools. Scholarships should be made available to encourage them further their education where possible, he stated.
Also speaking, Professor Willie Obiozor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, represented by the Centre’s Deputy Director, Dr. Silva Obi, assured students living with albinism in the institution of support to develop their talents and further their education smoothly.
Sir Victor Ezeonwumelu, a lecturer from the Department of Psychology at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, urged people with albinism to be confident, get an education, develop their minds, and adopt strategies for overcoming societal challenges and discrimination.
Earlier, the Chairperson of the Anambra State Albinism Association (ASAA), Comrade Vivian Ezeonwumelu, listed challenges faced by its members, including vision problems, a high risk of skin cancer, discrimination, and stigmatization, and urged employment opportunities and education to help them overcome the obstacles.
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