Mainstream Schools Survey in Karachi: A Qualitative Study to Explore the Inclusion of Children with Special Needs
It is beyond doubt that across the world many children do not receive adequate education, especially children with special needs (CWSN). The goal of education for children with and without special needs is to prepare them for a happy, productive civil life. Inclusive Education is a process of addressing and responding to the learning needs of all children regardless of their ability using child-friendly, flexible and effective teaching- learning methods. This qualitative study examines factors that affect the performance of children with special needs in mainstream school settings. The study aims to inquire which of the schools' policies are particularly relevant for children with special needs and what impact does it have on them. Guiding questions address attitudes of the management and staff towards children with special needs. It further explores the effects of the current practices of schools towards children with special needs.
The objectives of this study were to:
- find out the schools concept of integration / inclusion issues and increase their awareness about important issues related to inclusion
- find opportunities for liaison between the Aga Khan University Insititute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) and mainstream schools
- share information about Pakistan Association for Inclusive Education (PAIE), and
- invite participation in PAIE to broaden the networking in support of special needs.
This particular study being a survey, an exploratory research design was adopted. Data was collected from nine mainstream schools having children with special needs. Five were from the upper socio-economic backgrounds and four were from the middle socio- economic backgrounds. Data collection was done with the help of two structured questionnaires, one for the teachers and one for the management, followed by small group discussions and classroom observations. There were a total of 52 teacher respondents and nine respondents from the management side. The findings state that these schools have from the start trusted their instincts that CWSN can be educated and placed them into regular classrooms against all odds and have resisted segregation, although few respondents felt that students with special needs be placed in special schools. These schools do not have proper policies in this regard and are doing it on goodwill and kindness and, therefore, struggling to achieve their target. An important factor that is highlighted is that these schools are admitting children with speech problems, learning disabilities, intellectual impairment, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention-deficit disorder and physical disabilities into their mainstream classrooms.
Many teachers felt that presence of CWSN created a very positive and congenial atmosphere in the classroom and all students and teachers embraced diversity openly. It was further identified that the assessment policies followed by the majority of schools were quite flexible regarding the children with special needs like giving allowances according to the levels of ability in the form of reduced achievement targets and lenient marking.
The findings support that these schools are continuously seeking more information and guidance from AKU-IED. An important partnership between AKU-IED and the identified schools has been formed providing benefits at both ends. Statistics indicate an increase in PAIE membership as majority of the schools and respondents of the study have joined PAIE. The author recommends that institutes like AKU-IED should offer services to teachers of the identified schools in creating awareness about special needs and inclusive education through short courses, eg, Visiting Teachers Programmes etc., adopt these inclusive set-ups as proper co-operating schools, and teachers from these set-ups can be invited for the MEd as well as the certificate course on Inclusive Education.