Effectiveness of inclusive education on academic achievement of children with disabilities in primary schools in Bungokho Sub County, Mbale District, Uganda

Abstract

The study investigated the effectiveness of Inclusive Education on Academic Achievement of children with Disabilities in Primary Schools in Bungokho Sub County, Mbale District, Uganda as the main objective. The specific objectives of the study were: To find out how inclusive education is implemented in primary schools in Bungokho Sub County, Mbale district; secondly to establish the key indicators of academic achievement of children with disabilities in primary schools in Bungokho Sub County, Mbale district and lastly to establish the influence of Inclusive Education on academic achievement of children with disabilities in primary schools in Bungokho Sub County, Mbale district. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research designs. The population of the study consisted of 10 schools (8 government aided schools and 2 private schools), 130 teachers, 10 head teachers and 160 children with disabilities. The study sampled these through simple random sampling techniques guided by Morgan (1970) which brought the study sample to 169 respondents from the 10 schools. The study used both primary and secondary data; secondary data was from the CCT’s office at the district and the head teachers’ office(s). The study considerably used primary data collected through self-administered questionnaires and one to one interview with head teachers. The researcher analyzed the data using descriptive statistics for quantitative data with aide of Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) and content analysis for qualitative data. The research study showed that Inclusive Education implementation affects academic achievement of children with disabilities by 32.2%; this is because computed R2 = 0.322. The study further revealed that inclusive education is not being taken serious in some schools and that many teachers do not have the requisite skills and knowledge to support children with disabilities in their classes. The study findings will be significant to policy makers, school administrators, head teachers and, School Management Committees, the MoES in the district, the academia by providing more information on inclusive education and academic achievement of children with disabilities. The findings may also form reference for future and further research in the field of education. The study recommends full embracement of inclusive education by schools in Bungokho Sub County, Mbale district since it is a policy by the Ministry of Education and Sports; that teachers be trained in inclusive education methodologies to ensure that they offer necessary help to the children with disabilities. The government needs to provide sufficient TLM to the schools to ensure that teachers have what to use and that learners are able to access text books. The NCDC needs to continuously relook at the curriculum and fully spell out possible adaptations which should be rolled down to teachers/schools. There needs to be a system of inclusive assessment to ensure that children with disabilities are not left behind. The system of individualized teaching and individual education plans (IEP) for children with disabilities needs to be embraced by schools in Bungokho Sub County, Mbale district. Finally, the Ministry of Education and Sports needs to monitor closely to ensure that schools are actually implementing inclusive education; otherwise it will remain on paper and the website without being implemented. Research findings conclude that students with special educational needs manage to learn some academic skills in inclusive education. However, they can learn more if the barriers can be eliminated