| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
This study has its focus on children s thoughts about inclusion in ordinary schools in Uganda. The study replicated one central part in the government study, Ministry of Education and Sports (2002). Uganda started the process of implementing inclusive education through the introduction of universal primary education which was declared in 1997. Following the perspective that children have the right to be consulted on all matters of concern to them and to have their views taken seriously in accordance with their age and maturity (UNESCO1989), the present study investigated the thoughts of primary school children in ordinary primary schools in Uganda. The major aim of this study was to find out what ordinary children and those with special educational needs think about their inclusion in ordinary schools.
The study was conducted in one district selected from the western region of Uganda. A case study design with orientation to qualitative research approach was used. The sample comprised of three ordinary children five children with special educational needs and from two study schools. Data was collected from the informants through interviews as the main method.
The results obtained show that both groups of informants included in the study are in favour of inclusion. However the two groups pointed out significant barriers. Among the barriers were mostly over crowded classrooms, shortage of furniture, few ordinary teachers, rigid curriculum, and lack of parental involvement. In addition to the above, informants with special educational needs registered other obstacles such as lack of accessibility to classrooms and toilets, classrooms, lack of water, lack of equipment, long distance from home to school, and too few special trained teachers in special needs education,
The findings show that there is need for more funding in the study schools. The extra funds would go towards modification of the learning environment in order to make them suitable for inclusion, construction of more classrooms to accommodate the large numbers of children and purchase of educational materials such as hearing aids, wheel chairs, Perkins Braille, hand frames, Braille kits, textbooks papers, tactile materials mobility canes, to mention a few which are required by children with special educational needs. Further, the findings of this study have made it necessary to suggest improvement in the capacity of both ordinary and specialist teachers in the two study schools. | nor |