Factors that hinder promotion of Autistic children into inclusive education in public primary schools in Kenya; a case of integrated schools in Nairobi county

Abstract

This study was intended to establish the factors that hinder the promotion of autistic children into inclusive education in Kenya. There is growing concern about autism in Kenya as an emerging area which is receiving education in some of the public schools in special needs education units in Nairobi as a distinct category of disabilities. Five questions were raised which were intended to give the findings as to why autistic children are not promoted to inclusive education. Descriptive Survey design was used for this study. This is an exploratory approach which involves collecting information by interviewing and administering a questionnaire to a sample of individuals.

This is the most convenient way for the researcher to reach all the respondents and the respondents had the freedom to read and fill the questionnaires with ease. This research gathered information from principals/head teachers, teachers and parents. Sample of five teachers per school and one principal! head teacher per school participated in the study. All the listed schools were selected through purposive sampling because the population is small but has the required information. The teachers and parents was sampled randomly using simple random by counting one to five and one to ten respectively so as to get a representative group. Results of the study show that resources for autistic learners (50010) and unqualified teachers .(54%) in the area of autism are a major hindrance in the promotion of autistic learners into inclusive learning.

These findings confirm that besides teachers, physical facilities and learning materials in many schools were not appropriate for children with Autism (50%). Classes in the public schools need restructuring (50%) which requires finance and this could be a hindrance on the side of the school because the funds given for disabled children amounts to 0.2 % which is not enough for all what is required for effective learning. More teachers need to be trained in autism (83%) and the learning environment needs to be structured so as to accommodate the autistic learners. There is need for further research to be done in the regular classrooms to find out the teachers attitude towards inclusion of children with autism in inclusive education.