AI revolution must not leave disabled learners behind

While Artificial Intelligence has potential advantages for inclusive education in Nigeria, there is a high tendency for its potential to strengthen exclusion too.

The co-creation workshop on Advancing Inclusive Education through Artificial Intelligence, convened by the Centre for Disability and Inclusion Africa in partnership with the Nigerian Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory, University of Lagos, has drawn attention to one of the most important and potentially transformative questions facing Nigeria’s education system: how can artificial intelligence improve learning opportunities for persons with disabilities without creating new forms of exclusion?

Held on August 13, 2026, at NiTHub, University of Lagos, the workshop was significant not merely because it brought AI experts and education stakeholders into the same room, but because it placed persons with disabilities and their representative organisations at the centre of the conversation.

This is a crucial departure from the traditional approach, in which technologies are designed first, and disabled people are consulted afterwards.

The workshop’s central message is compelling: persons with disabilities should not be treated merely as beneficiaries or end users of AI. They must be co-designers and co-owners of the solutions intended to affect their education and lives.

This principle deserves serious attention from policymakers. Artificial intelligence can potentially provide personalised learning, speech-to-text services, intelligent tutoring, translation, accessible educational content and other assistive technologies.

But technology alone cannot solve Nigeria’s longstanding challenges in inclusive education. Poor digital infrastructure, inadequate teacher preparation, limited access to assistive technologies and weak implementation of existing policies could prevent many learners from benefiting from AI.

Indeed, the workshop’s decision to place collaboration ahead of technology development is perhaps its most important contribution. Its proposed sequence- collaborate, strengthen policy, develop ethical and accessible AI, build teacher capacity, improve infrastructure, expand assistive technology, and finally test, evaluate, and scale recognises that successful innovation requires an ecosystem rather than isolated technological products.

The proposed AI and Inclusive Education Consortium, or “AI’s Ability Working Group,” could, therefore, become a valuable mechanism for moving the conversation beyond conferences and communiques. Its success, however, will depend on whether it is given clear responsibilities, measurable targets, sustainable financing and a mechanism for accountability.

The government has a particularly important role.

Nigeria needs policies that encourage innovation while establishing safeguards around accessibility, privacy, bias, data protection and the rights of learners with disabilities. AI systems trained on inadequate or unrepresentative data can reproduce existing inequalities. An inaccessible AI platform can become another barrier rather than a bridge.

Teachers must also be central to the transition. No AI system can deliver inclusive education effectively if educators lack the knowledge and confidence to use it. The proposed Teacher AI Literacy Programme is, therefore, an important practical starting point.

Most importantly, Nigeria must resist the temptation to measure progress by the number of AI tools introduced into schools. The real measure should be whether a child who previously struggled to access learning can now participate more independently and meaningfully.

The August workshop represents a promising shift—from research to action and from consultation to co-creation. The next test is implementation. Nigeria now has an opportunity to demonstrate that AI can be more than a fashionable technology: it can become an instrument for equality, dignity and educational opportunity.

But that promise will only be realised if the people for whom inclusive education is intended are genuinely involved in designing, testing, evaluating and owning the solutions.

Yinka Olaito writes from Lagos.