| dc.description.abstract | Inclusive education has become a global trend in provision of services for
pupils with disabilities. Kenya has contributed to the initiatives through provision
of Free Primary Education (FPE) and formulation of Special Needs Policy
towards promoting inclusive education. The policy was to ensure equitable access
to quality education and training of learners with special needs. However, special
needs education still faces many challenges and the implementation of the policy
has not been very successful. The factors that hinder the provision of education
for special needs learners include: insufficient data on children with special
needs, stigmatization of persons with disabilities, lack of qualified professionals,
ineffective assessment tools, inappropriate curriculum as well as instructional
methodologies. This has led to misplacement of pupils with special needs in
Special Units. This study focused on investigating the challenges facing
implementation of inclusive education in public primary schools in Matete
District, Lugari Sub County; Kenya. The objectives of the study were to establish
the type of learner based factors influencing implementation of inclusive
education, to assess the resources available, to explore the level of awareness
among teachers and to assess level of training among teachers. The study
employed the descriptive survey method and used qualitative methods to analyze
the relationships between variables and further interpretation. The research
instruments used included questionnaires, interview schedules and document
analysis. The analysis of data was both qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative
analysis considered conclusions from the respondents' opinions while quantitative
analysis involved use of frequency counts and distribution, tabulation, totals and
calculation of percentages. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) software whose output was presented in form of graphs,
tables, percentages and charts. The learner based factors such as type of disability,
motivation, benefits, performance, participation and self esteem had a great
influence on implementation of inclusive education. Inadequate training, lack of
teaching materials, inappropriate curriculum to a large extent decelerated
implementation of inclusive education. The results highlighted the existence of
poor learning environment as well as low level of awareness on the contents of
Special needs policy among teachers as a hindrance to inclusive education. These
results will assist the Ministry of Education to plan, organize and manage special
educational provisions adequately. Recommendations of the report include:
establishment of assessment resource centres to support in identification of type
of disabilities, allocation-of adequate funding and training of all the teachers.The
report concludes that inclusive education is a basic human right and it requires
involvement of all stakeholders including the government, teachers, parents,
pupils and communities for it to become a reality. | en |
