Introduction

All parents want their children to be accepted by their peers, have friends and lead regular lives.
However, the vision and hope of these parents have been dashed due to several factors affecting
the implementation of inclusive education in schools. It is disheartening to note that children
with disability are being segregated. In changing the narrative globally, the 2030 Agenda spelt
out the importance of enrolling a child with disability into a regular classroom.

While the narrative toward inclusion and inclusive education is changing globally, traditionally
in Nigeria, limited attention has been placed in addressing issues of access to inclusive education
for children or learners with disability within the educational system, at least in practice. This is
notwithstanding the fact that students with disability have been identified in various
governmental policy documents as being historically disadvantaged and deserving of special
attention within the broad educational framework. Under the Nigerian law, children with
disabilities suffer from many prejudices, including seclusion and discrimination in terms of
education, such practices amount to a violation of the Nigerian commitment and obligations
under international law to provide education for all and without discrimination (Akinbola, 2010).

The gloomy state of educational opportunities for children with disability has provoked scholarly
directions and recommendations. It is in this light that Atueyi (2018) recommended that the
Federal government should mandate schools to practice inclusive education saying that research
has shown that when children with special needs attend classes alongside their peers who do not
have disabilities, the benefits are massive. She further reported that about 98 percent of Nigerian
schools do not accept special needs students, thereby pushing parents to lock up such children at
home. Kolawole (2016) also asserts that apart from finance, health and physical infrastructure,
the needs of children with disabilities also include access to an all inclusive education system
which will stimulate and encourage their physical/mental growth and development.
While the debate continues among scholars, local, state and federal policy makers, parents, and
even people with disabilities in Nigeria regarding the efficacy of inclusion in education and the
inevitable restructuring of general education that will need to occur to make learning meaningful
in an inclusive environment. The debate has resulted in greater pressure than ever before on the
need for students with disability to access the general curriculum and attain the same standards
as typical students, and this is borne out of a global prerogative based on the paradigm that

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human beings are born equal and all have rights to education, equal opportunities and
participation in society.
By and large, the cardinal principle of inclusive education is the drive toward guaranteeing
complete right to education for all, and it is enshrined in the fourth Social Development Goals
(SDG4) of the Agenda 2030 which is meant to “ensure lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
The SDG4 has ten targets encompassing many different aspects of education; they include
universal primary and secondary education, early childhood development, universal pre-primary
education, gender equality and inclusion. This SDG gives a focused and well coordinated
roadmap which seeks to lead international policies on education until 2030 and hasten the
process of inclusion within the global educational system monumentally unlike previous policies
such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Music has the potentials in achieving the goals of the 2030 agenda, due to its potency and impact
on emotions. Music is a content area of the curriculum that not only strives for the achievement
of facts and skills, but provides all children with learning experiences that are basic to learning in
other areas of the curriculum as well. Because of its multisensory demands, music contributes to
helping children learn how to process and react to sensory stimulation. Music can play important
role in special education because many students with disabilities need special instructional
treatment it can help improve the quality of life for people with disabilities of various kinds (Sze
& Yu, 2004).

The Concept of “Inclusion” within the Education Paradigm

Inclusion in education is part of a huge global movement for human rights which advocates the
complete integration of children with disability into all aspects of the educational programme.
Islam and Leshkova (2017) define inclusion as number of well established practices and a
process that seeks to integrate children with disabilities into various aspects of education so that
they can become better persons in life.

Inclusion also refers to the feasibility of children with disability to participate completely in a
regular classroom alongside with children without disability. The principle and law of
“inclusion” in education is one of the key international principles which are based on several
declarations of UNESCO, UNICEF and UN. The United Nations (UN) spelt out the importance
of inclusion of persons with disabilities as follows:-

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  Education contributes to personal well-being and it is the gate way to full participation in
the society.
 Education is an investment in the future and contributes to both social development and
human capital formation,
 Inclusive education promotes inclusive and tolerant societies, with benefits for students
with and without disabilities, families of students with disabilities, and the larger
community
 Excluding persons with disabilities, especially children with disabilities, from education
has high social and economic costs that endure for lifetime.
 Countries cannot achieve the sustainable development goals and the 2030 agenda for
sustainable development without ensuring access to education for children with
disabilities. Among others all to be achieved by 2030.
 States are legally obliged to include children with disabilities in education under
international human rights law, in particular article 24 of the convention on the rights of
persons with disabilities.
In Nigeria, one important objective of the educational policies of the Federal Government and
government across all levels is the provision of opportunities for children with disabilities all
over the country so that they may benefit maximally from the teaching and learning process that
takes places within the school system. In accentuating this, existing system within the regular
schools need to be modified or adapted to cater for their needs for they are a special group of
people needing a lot of care and attention (Okoye, 2010). Cadir (2008) assets that school subjects
or educational programmes which would lead to the all round development of the physically
disabled child like his able bodied counterpart should be encouraged; and this is the hallmark of
“inclusion as encapsulated under Agenda 2030.

Inclusive education

In recent years, the debate about giving equal educational opportunities to children with
disabilities like their able bodied peers has been of great interest. The interest is borne out of the
growing recognition of “inclusion” whose cardinal focus is the integration of students or learners
with disabilities in to the general education system so as to provide them with the opportunity to

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learn in natural, stimulating settings, which may also lead to increased acceptance and
appreciation of differences.

Inclusive education all like other forms of education is very unique in its operational and
directional focus. Its uniqueness is borne out of how it makes provisions for the combination of
both children with disability and those without disability in the same classroom environment.
McManis (2017) defined inclusive education as when all students, regardless of any challenges
they may have are placed in age-appropriate general education classes that are in their
neighborhood schools to receive high quality instruction, interventions and supports that enable
them to meet success in the core curriculum. The major focus of inclusive education is the idea
that children should learn together regardless of differences or disability.

Inclusive education begins with the premise that all learners have unique characteristics,
interests, abilities and particular learning needs and furthers that learners with special education
needs must have equal access to and receive individual accommodation in the general education
system (United Nations, 2018). It is clearly comprehended that inclusive education benefits the
families, teachers and students by ensuring that children with disabilities attend school with their
peers, and ensuring that they are given adequate support to grow academically. Ahmad (2000)
defined inclusive education as the education of all children and young people with and without
disabilities or difficulties in learning together in ordinary pre-primary schools, colleges,
universities with appropriate network support.

According to UNESCO (2008) inclusive education is a process intended to respond to students

diversity by increasing their participation and reducing exclusion within and from education, it is
related to the attendance, participation and achievement of all students, especially those who due
to different reasons, are excluded or at risk of being marginalized.

UNESCO (2005) also outlines that inclusive education encompasses the following:

 Recognition of the right to education and its provision in non-discriminatory ways.

 A common vision which covers all people

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  A belief that schools and other places of learning have a responsibility to educate all
children and adults in line with human rights principles
 A continuous process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all
learners regardless of factors such as disability, genders, age, ethnicity, language, HIV
status, geographical location and sexually-recognizing that all people can learn.

Incheon Declaration and 2030 Agenda

In the bid to lead and coordinate the 2030 agenda for education, the Incheon declaration was
adopted at the World Education Forum in Incheon, South Korea on May 15, 2015 (Wikipedia,
2018). This Forum was organized by UNESCO, UNICEF, WORLD BANK< UNFPA, UNDA,
UN women with the aim of providing quality, inclusive education at all levels and stressed that
everyone should have access to lifelong learning opportunities.

The Forum represented a milestone in the consulting process of the Agenda 2030. The
Declaration also asserts the need for all nations of the world to promote and implant educational
goals based on the principle of equity and inclusion. It also emphasizes that the target of agenda
2030 cannot be considered reached if it is not reached by everyone. Ensuring a wider reach will
mean a change in policies of states of the world to policies that focus more on groups that are
disadvantaged. The Declaration categorically mentions persons with disabilities as the most
vulnerable of these groups, hence deserving of extra attention. It is important to note that the
Incheon declaration is a continuation of the Education for All and the Millennium Development
Goals on education.

According to Telephonica Foundation (2017) the Incheon Declaration proposes bold and urgent
action to transform lives through a new vision for education; the Declaration is a seed of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it is being managed by UNESCO. It was argued that
since education has the potential to accelerate progress towards the achievement of all the SDGS,
it should be part of the strategies to achieve them; this is particularly true with regard to poverty
reduction, health and climate change (International Network for Education in Emergencies,
2018). Ude (2015) reported that a key feature of the Incheon Declaration is the commitment of
world leaders to ensuring that all children can go to school for at least 12 years for free, and
provision of inclusive, equitable and quality education for all by 2030.

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With all these declaration, does Nigeria have the ability of achieving the goals of Incheon
declaration? The country holds the highest record for out of school children accounting for a
staggering 10.5 million of the 57 million in the world, with such a poor record it is no wonder
that stakeholders doubt whether Nigeria will be able to meet up with the Sustainable
Development Goal four, recently adopted by the UN to ensure inclusive and quality education
(Iren, 2015). Iren (2015) further reiterated that the economic system of Nigeria is still capitalism
which means social services including education are seen not as government’s responsibility, but
as business and students are seen as customers. This makes it difficult to achieve the education
for all. Thus even thought the idea of inclusive education has gained significant roots all over the
world, in Nigeria it has remained theoretical and speculative (Ajuwon, 2012).

As the debate regarding inclusive education in Nigeria continues among educators, scholars and
federal policy makers, the inevitable restructuring of the general education cannot be far-fetched.
What this means is that the general school curriculum must be laced with subjects or educational
programmes that can improve and sustain inclusive education. Typically, one progamme that can
stimulate this is music education. The development of skills through music has well been
documented in and wider academic literature. Within the context of special education needs,
skills development especially in the area of communication is deemed crucial to the
encouragement of the physically disabled child and in the child’s effective integration amongst
peers. In accentuating this need, interest has been beamed on music, as a veritable subject of the
arts which makes provisions for these needs since it is an expressive art.

Benefits of Music in Inclusive Education

Music is seen as a socio-scientific art form because it is a product of human existence in varying
capacities and structured into rhythms which are suffused in deep emotion-laden and therapeutic
verbal compositions or lyrics (Garofalo, 2007). As a subset of literature, music has remained
mutually contingent with the written or oral word both as an art form developed diversely to
forefront relevance in the social evolution of mankind of all cultures, and as a basic media of
artistic expression. Thus music, no matter the genre and irrespective of the social milieu or epoch
is a conscious effort to express art forms, artistic expressions and project a people’s culture/their
experiences in various contexts through time and space. Thus irrevocably, music can play an
important role in the lives of person’s with disability as it can serve as an effective educational,

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expressive, artistic and therapeutic tool for both children and adults with various forms of
disabilities.

According to Merck and Johnson (2017) music tends to be one of the top motivators for children
with special needs, so it is a perfect fit for kids with special needs because it engages and appeals
to many of their strengths and needs. It is absolutely incredible how music lessons or group
music classes can help a child overcome small auditory sensory processing disorders or ADHA,
all the way to more complex issues like helping a child become more verbal (Ericsson, 2017)
music gives room for expression and creates opportunity for the disabled to be employed or self
employed.

There are various types of disability in children and adults that could prevent them from living a
normal life. The disabled world logo (2018) explained that disability can be broken down into a
number of sub categories which include the following: mobility and physical impairments, spinal
cord disability, brain disability, vision disability, psychological disorders, invisible disability
these children with disabilities are expected to be enrolled into the regular classroom as it has
been proven that disabled persons feel better and learns better when they are mixed up with
normal children in a class. The guardian newspaper narrated a case of a woman named Bukola
Ayinde who had a child suffering from cerebral palsy, after various treatments she lost hope but
a speech therapist advised her to enroll her child into an inclusive classroom. Ayinde shared her
experience and the benefits of inclusive education saying “If we had decided that Nimi will not
go to school until she was able to talk, use her hands or walk, she may still be at home,
unlearned; not fully able to engage her world she also mentioned that her child after being
enrolled into an inclusive classroom is able to pronounce few words.

Music is one of the most effective and significant techniques used in education supporting all
children’s motor, mental, and language development. The aims of music education are related to
communication, awareness, creativity and emotions (Kocobaz & Ozeke, 2012). Thus music
education is vital in the attainment of 2030 agenda due to its ability to care for children with
various disabilities based on its multi-sensory quality; as music can generally help in the area of
visual and cognitive stimulation and the development of different senses. Specifically, music
helps children with Autism who might have difficulty in communication, and playing with
others; it assists in meeting the needs of these children for it is therapeutic. It is in this light that

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Short (2016) affirmed that music therapy allows children to communicate without language,
fostering creative self expression because music is processed in both hemispheres of the brain; it
can stimulate cognitive functioning and may lead to the development of verbal communication,
speech and language skill. Merck & Johnson (2017) in support of the above, reiterated that the
cognitive neuroscience of music shows that when making music, the sensory cortex, auditory
cortex, hippo campus, visual cortex, cerebellum and motor cortex are firing at once. Research
has shown that when autistic children interact with music on a regular basis, their
communication and behaviour improve. (Dais, 2017).

In an inclusive classroom, music promotes socialization and bonding amongst the learners in the
classroom, and this has a positive impact in the overall well being of the persons with disability.
According to Ericson (2017), music helps people bond, he reported that when a child has
learning disability they can feel secluded and alone, music releases oxytocin in the brain which is
also known as the bonding or happy chemical. Music creates the bonding in an inclusive
classroom. Listening to music and singing together has been shown in several studies to directly
impact neuro chemical in the brain, which plays a role in closeness and connection (Suttie,
2016).

Kocobaz and Ozeke, (2012) assert that the integration of music education into the school
curriculum makes a difference for all children irrespective of whether they have disabilities or
not. Thus it should be promoted as an integral part of every educational programme.

Music education is a great tool for promoting brain development and acquiring skills. Learning
to play an instrument helps the person with disability. The Peterson Family Foundation (2017)
enumerated the importance of learning and playing musical instruments in an inclusive
classroom as follows:

 Learning an instrument increases memory skills, it teaches a child how to create, store
and retrieve memories more effectively.
 Improves coordination in the disabled child
 Music instruments creates responsibility
 Nurtures self expression children learning to play an instrument are able to find
themselves creatively. By learning to express themselves, they overcome the complex

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 feeling about their illness through music. Music making is perfect for kids with disability
because it engages and appeals too many of their sensory strengths and needs. (Merck &
Johnson, 2017).
Overall, inclusive music education is pertinent to the modern day needs of children with
disabilities as its adoption into the general education curriculum or programme can lead to the
stimulation of perceptual motor skills in the child with disabilities. Most importantly, it can lead
to symbolization and abstraction which can be channeled to physical and cognitive energy.

Conclusion

The effect of music on children with disability are numerous, music provides a form of
compensation for those with speech impairment, improves emotional problems, helps to create
bonding and integration for a disabled child who feels secluded and alone and more so, learning
to play instrument enhances a child’s memory, development and improvement in fine motor
skills. Music education can also empower children with disabilities by making them more active,
productive, and independent, which equally will benefit their families and communities.

There is no doubt that inclusive music education is a way of combating discrimination and
achieving the 2030 agenda education for all, hence it is essential that it is promoted and
awareness is directed significantly toward the benefits that can be accrued from its inclusion as a
functional and practical element of the curriculum of the inclusive classroom. Consequently, this
paper explained the rationale behind music integration in an inclusive classroom. Nigeria needs
to adopt the declaration of agenda 2030 not just in paper but should be implemented effectively
without leaving any stone unturned.

Recommendations

- For an effective implementation of inclusive music education, there is need for in service
training, a mandatory requirement for music teachers.
- Teaching in an inclusive classroom is a difficult task, teachers should be encouraged and
be given incentives
- Teachers should take special training on instructing students with disability.
- Music therapy should be included in the curriculum of teachers training institutions and
the universities.

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- A special directorate of inclusive education should be created in federal, state ministries
of education charged with the responsibilities of planning, implementation and
monitoring of inclusive education activities in Nigerian schools.

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