APPLICATION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES IN THE DESIGN OF A MODERN SECONDARY SCHOOL IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Education is a basic human right that every person should have access to regardless of who they are and what challenges they may face. In Nigeria however, this right does seem to be exercised exponentially by the physically challenged for a number of reasons. One of the major reasons would be the inaccessibility of educational institutions at all levels, in different parts of the country. There are few schools that were designed to accommodate the needs of these special people and even at that, designed well. For that reason, these people find it rather difficult to exercise this right and are deprived of this simple need. There is a need to observe the schools that currently exist for this purpose, to find out how efficiently they accommodate these persons and to design a school to promote inclusivity. The aim of this study is to design a secondary school for physically challenged students, using universal design principles, with a view to promoting inclusivity in education. Three buildings were chosen and selected as case studies for the purpose of data collection. This data was consisted of qualitative and quantitative data, with the qualitative data gathered by use of an observation guide and quantitative data gathered using a structured questionnaire, which was shared to users of the selected buildings. The observation guides were analyzed using content analysis, while the questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results of the research showed that the selected schools did not fully meet the Universal Design guidelines and had satisfactory levels that were below average to average. The results also revealed that the users of the buildings were satisfied with the access provisions provided, as well as how they affected accessibility and usability of the school facilities