By Golok Nanmwa

JOS — The wife of the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mrs Modupe Afiz Ogun, has raised concerns over the low level of awareness of learning disabilities in Nigeria, urging early identification and sustained support for affected learners.

Ogun spoke on Monday while declaring open a three-day 2026 Teachers’ Professional Development Training for staff of the ITF Model School, Jos, organised by the Modupe Afiz Ogun Foundation.

The training is aimed at equipping teachers with knowledge and practical skills to identify and support learners with specific learning disabilities and other learning challenges.

Ogun said every child had the capacity to learn but might require different approaches and support.

“Everybody can learn, that is a fact, but everybody does not learn the same way. If everybody does not think and reason the same way, then we must understand how best to support every child,” she said.

She said inadequate awareness of learning disabilities was partly due to the fact that many of the conditions were not physically visible, making it difficult for affected children to receive appropriate support.

“There is not enough awareness, and one of the reasons is that these conditions are not visible.

“You do not see them like a broken hand, a limping leg or other physical impairments that people easily recognise.

“Because these conditions are not obvious, it is easy for people to conclude that a child is lazy, unwilling to cooperate, rude or poorly raised. But that is often not the case,” she said.

Ogun called for continuous training of teachers and greater awareness among parents and the wider society to ensure that children with learning disabilities receive appropriate support.

She said intervention should extend beyond primary and secondary education to tertiary institutions and workplaces.

In his speech, delivered by the Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mr Ojo Akindele, the ITF Director-General, Dr Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, said the training was consistent with the Fund’s mandate of developing human capacity.

He said the initiative extended that mandate to the ITF Model School by providing teachers with specialised knowledge and practical strategies for identifying and responding to learning difficulties.

According to him, conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia could affect learners’ educational outcomes when they were not properly identified and addressed.

“Bright and capable students can sometimes face unrecognised challenges. When these processing differences go unnoticed, our children struggle needlessly.

“As educators in a modern school, we stand on the frontline of early detection and intervention. We hold the key to ensuring that no child is left behind,” he said.

The training features sessions on screening tools, neurodiverse classrooms, multi-sensory teaching, targeted interventions, Individualised Education Plans (IEPs) and inclusive teaching strategies.

Ogun urged participants to actively engage in the sessions and apply the knowledge gained to their classrooms.

He also commended the Modupe Afiz Ogun Foundation for partnering with the ITF to strengthen teachers’ capacity and improve learning outcomes.

One of the facilitators, Mr Iniobong Sam, described the training as timely, noting the need for greater awareness and specialised support for children experiencing learning difficulties.

Sam said the prevalence of learning disabilities underscored the need for early identification, intervention and appropriate support, adding that teachers were strategically positioned to observe learning patterns and initiate necessary interventions.

The Head Teacher of the ITF Model School, Mrs Josephine Oluwole, expressed appreciation to the ITF director-general and his wife for supporting the programme.

She said the training had been planned earlier but was not initially captured in the school’s budget until the intervention of the director-general.

Oluwole said the programme would help teachers better understand learning disabilities and avoid mistaking them for laziness, stubbornness or other forms of misconduct.