Influence of school based factors on participation of learners with special needs in primary education in Naivasha Municipality, Nakuru, Kenya

Abstract

Education has been recognized as basic human right by many world societies. This includes persons with disabilities and special needs in education. Special needs education execution still requires much more on the factors that will enable learners to participate more for its full success. The inclusion of learners with special needs in education is faced with many challenges. This study sought to determine how administrative support, cost of education, school environment, school resources, teachers’ in-service courses influence the participation of children with special needs in primary school education in Naivasha Municipality, Nakuru County. The study targeted all the 28 public schools in Naivasha municipality, six teachers and thirteen learners per school. The study sample in total consisted of 28 headteachers, 168 teachers and 364 pupils yielding a sample of 560 respondents. Stratified sampling was used to sample teachers and pupils to ensure equal representation of the subgroups in form of gender and age. Primary data obtained through interview schedule and questionnaires for head teachers, teachers and learners and observation of learners while secondary data from literature analysis were collected and used for the study. Data was analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables and percentage and also in narrative form. It was found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with administrative support as opposed to those without administrative support. The study found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with high costs as opposed to those without high costs in primary education in Naivasha Municipality. It was evident from the findings that there was a high participation level of learners with special needs in conducive environment as opposed to those less conducive environment. The study found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with provision of resources as compared to schools without provision of resources. It was found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with in-service courses as compared to schools without in-service courses. From the findings, the research concluded that school based factors influence the participation of learners with special needs in education.

Education has been recognized as basic human right by many world societies. This includes persons with disabilities and special needs in education. Special needs education execution still requires much more on the factors that will enable learners to participate more for its full success. The inclusion of learners with special needs in education is faced with many challenges. This study sought to determine how administrative support, cost of education, school environment, school resources, teachers’ in-service courses influence the participation of children with special needs in primary school education in Naivasha Municipality, Nakuru County. The study targeted all the 28 public schools in Naivasha municipality, six teachers and thirteen learners per school. The study sample in total consisted of 28 headteachers, 168 teachers and 364 pupils yielding a sample of 560 respondents. Stratified sampling was used to sample teachers and pupils to ensure equal representation of the subgroups in form of gender and age. Primary data obtained through interview schedule and questionnaires for head teachers, teachers and learners and observation of learners while secondary data from literature analysis were collected and used for the study. Data was analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution tables and percentage and also in narrative form. It was found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with administrative support as opposed to those without administrative support. The study found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with high costs as opposed to those without high costs in primary education in Naivasha Municipality. It was evident from the findings that there was a high participation level of learners with special needs in conducive environment as opposed to those less conducive environment. The study found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with provision of resources as compared to schools without provision of resources. It was found that there is high participation level of learners with special needs in schools with in-service courses as compared to schools without in-service courses. From the findings, the research concluded that school based factors influence the participation of learners with special needs in education.