What are the barriers to educating children with disabilities?

verogakio

Perceived barriers to educating children with disabilities may be physical, social or financial. Some barriers include the following:

Policy and system factors

• Discriminatory policy actually segregates children with disabilities and prevents them from attending school or professional training, including teaching

• No specific policy on disability or education of children with disabilities

• Policy is dated and inappropriate or based on a medical approach to disability

• Reasonable policy is in place but not implemented, poor resource allocations to education for the disabled

• Limited training of teachers in working with children with disabilities, no incentives for teachers to do so

• Poor identification and screening services

• Poor school support services, limited or no resources for schools

Social and community factors

• The greatest barriers to inclusion are caused by society not by medical

impairments

• Social stigma and negative parental attitudes to disability which may arise out of religious and cultural beliefs e.g. disability may be seen as punishment

• Parental resistance to inclusive education for special groups

• Normal barriers such as cost of uniforms, transport

etc apply equally or more to disabled children, particularly the poor school factors

• Low school budgets resulting in a lack of appropriate facilities, inaccessible school buildings, high pupil to teacher ratios, limited support for children with disabilities

• Teachers have inadequate training in inclusive methodologies and can not deal with the range of children with disabilities.

• Limited awareness of disability among teachers and school staff

BKiwu

This post is very relevant now that we are in a transition period between the old 8.4.4 and the competence based curriculum. I hope the implementers will be keen enough on children with disabilities and seek sustainable and inclusive solutions to challenges identified.