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Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Abbreviated Key Title: Saudi J Humanities Soc Sci

ISSN 2415-6256 (Print) | ISSN 2415-6248 (Online)

Scholars Middle East Publishers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Journal homepage: https://saudijournals.com/sjhss

Review Article

Prospects and Challenges of Inclusion of Children with Disabilities into

Regular School Setting in Nigeria Dr. Dorcas Oluremi FAREO

Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, Adamawa State University, Mubi, Nigeria

DOI: 10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i06.001 | Received: 30.05.2020 | Accepted: 08.06.2020 | Published: 11.06.2020

*Corresponding author: Dr. Dorcas Oluremi FAREO

Abstract

Inclusion is a programme that caters for the education of individuals with disabilities in a regular school setting. This

paper takes a cursory look at concepts of inclusive education, inclusive education policy in Nigeria, learning theories of

inclusion such as Social Learning Theory by Bandura, Observation Learning Theory by Piaget and Vygotsky and Guided

Learning Theory by Vygotsky are critically examined. Inclusion has academic and social benefits for all students,

whether with or without disabilities, such as increased communication and social interaction opportunities, age-

appropriate models of behaviour skills, active participation in the school community, individualized education goals, as

well as access to rich core curriculum. The challenges of inclusive education are in the areas of funding, inadequate

personnel, facilities and materials; lack of communication among administrators, teachers, specialists, staff, parents and

students inhibits the success of inclusive programme. Counselling the public for attitudinal change would accommodate

the students with special needs in our society, but; would also make them to be accepted as people of worth. It is

recommended to all school system to initiate seminars, workshops and conferences for parents of students with special

needs; so that awareness could be brought about on needs of families. The curriculum should be modified to

accommodate learners with special needs different learning style so as to achieve the needed change.

Keywords: Inclusive education, students with special needs, children with disabilities, special Teachers and inclusive

educational policy.

Copyright @ 2020: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license which permits unrestricted

use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial use (NonCommercial, or CC-BY-NC) provided the original author and source

are credited.

CONCEPT OF INCLUSION Stevens [1] considers an inclusive classroom

as a replacement option for students with learning

disabilities. The author explains further, that, it is a least

restrictive form of education for special needs students

and it allows the students to be included in a typical

classroom enrolment with his or her peers. Inclusive

education is concerned with minimizing and removing

barriers to access, participation and learning for all

children, but especially for those who have been

socially discriminated because of poverty, disability,

gender, religion, ethnicity or any inequalities [2].

Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education [3]

as cited in Okobah [4] and Omede [5] defines inclusive

education as a programme for all children and young

people with or without disabilities or difficulties

learning together in ordinary pre-primary provisions,

schools, colleges and universities with appropriate

network. Kochlar, West and Taman [6] equally stated

that inclusion in special education means that schools,

classes and activities are scheduled for students with

disabilities so that opportunities for their participation

are maximized. UNESCO [7], perceives it as a process

of transforming schools and other centers of learning to

linguistic minorities, rural populations, those infected

and affected by HIV and AIDS, those with disabilities

and difficulties in learning and as well provide learning

opportunities for all. Accommodating such learners will

in small way help in developing self-esteem needed to

overcome obstacle that the disability would have posed

to them.

Inclusive Education Policy in Nigeria According to Federal Government of Nigeria

[8], a programme known as “Special Education” was

designed to cater for three categories of individuals

thus:

1) The Disabled including people with

physical, visual, hearing, mental, emotional, social,

speech, learning and multiple impairments. 2) The

Disadvantaged involving the children of nomadic

https://saudijournals.com/sjhss

Dorcas Oluremi FAREO; Saudi J. Humanities Soc Sci, June., 2020; 5(6): 269-273

pastorals, migrant fisher folks, migrant farmers and

hunters 3) The Gifted and Talented involving people

(Children and Adults) who have high intelligent

quotient and endowed with special traits in arts,

creativity, music, leadership, intellectual precocity and

therefore find themselves insufficiently challenged by

the regular schools.

Furthermore by the provision of the policy,

educations of children with special needs are expected

to be free at all levels and all necessary facilities that

would ensure easy access to education shall be provided

to include: a) Inclusive education or integration of

special classes and units into ordinary/public schools

under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme; b)

Regular census and monitoring of people with special

needs to ensure adequate educational planning and

welfare programme; (c) Special education equipment

and materials like Perkins Braille, white/mobility care,

brailed textbooks, abacus, talking watch, audiometers,

speech trainers, hearing aids, ear molding machines,

educational toys, calipers, crutches, wheel chairs,

artificial limbs, audio-visual equipment and internet

facilities; (d) Special education training on Braille

reading and writing, typewriter use, speech signs, daily

living skills; (e) Special training and re-training of the

personnel on capacity building to keep them abreast of

latest teaching techniques on various categories of

disabilities, the gifted and talented; and (f) A teacher-

pupil ratio of 1:10 in special schools. Equally the

special schools are to arrange for effective architectural

designs of school buildings with regular sensory,

medical and psychological screening assessments to

identify any incidence of handicap.

Special education provides the best platform to

attend to the needs of these persons. The goal of special

education is to equalize for its clients available

opportunities in the society. It operates on the

philosophy of „catch them young‟, that is why it starts

as soon as a child is detected to have special needs and

it pursues this mandate through the early intervention

programme. Some vital areas of special education

services include vocational, community based and

medical rehabilitation, assessment/identification

strategies, home/hospital based services, provision of

materials/equipment and assistive technology for

persons with disabilities, special education

teachers/para-professionals. These services are provided

as integral aspects of special education programme

geared towards securing an independent and self-reliant

existence for persons with disabilities [9, 10].

Learning Theories on Inclusion

(a) Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura developed the social learning

theory which states that learning, both cognitive and

behavioral, takes place through the observation,

modeling, and imitation of others. The main

characteristic of the social learning theory, are the

centrality of observational learning, a Causal model that

involves an environment- person- behavior system,

cognitive contributions, and Self-efficacy and agency

[11]. This theory proposes that academic and behavior.

Modelling takes place through verbal instruction, live

modeling by a person, and symbolic model ing through

four steps: attention, retention, reproduction, and

motivation. Inclusion classes capitalize on this theory

because disabled peers can observe their nondisabled

peers and their teachers and then imitate them both

academically and behaviorally. Advocates for inclusion

thought this course of action would help students with

disabilities by emerging them into a learning

community that mimics a mini society. Through this

learning community students with disabilities are able

to interact with their peers and develop friendships.

When included in the regular classroom, special needs

students have the opportunity to see their peers working

habits, and they can model those habits and behaviors to

reflect their own.

(b) Observational Learning Theory

Students with special needs can learn not only

desired behaviours from their peers through social

interaction, they can also learn academically within

their learning community. Children can be the best

teachers. Cooperative learning involves social

interaction amongst the students, and it is the key to

educational thinkers such as Piaget and Vygotsky [1].

Using social interaction and active experiences in

learning helps children to feed knowledge to one

another. These methods also promote social

communication skills that children will need to possess

as adults. They will need to be able to effectively

discuss the various issues that will occur as life

progresses. Even students with special needs can offer

educational knowledge to their peers; if the students

learn that they can teach others and learn from others,

and then they will feel a sense of belonging, pride, and

responsibility. When students are working together,

these students can be paired with slower learner

students from time to time. When students work

together and are able to engage in discussions on

different ideas, then the sky‟s the limit to what types of

knowledge the students can transmit to one another.

Peer learning helps students to build effective listening

and communication skills [12].

According to Vygotsky in Lamport, Graves

and Wards [14], the zone of proximal development

states that students learn when guided by an adult or

when working with more capable peers. A more

competent person collaborates with a child to help him

move from where he is now to where he can be with

help. This person accomplishes this feat by means of

prompts, clues, modeling, explanation, leading

questions, discussion, joint participation,

encouragement, and control of the child‟s attention”

[11]. Students with disabilities can learn from their

Dorcas Oluremi FAREO; Saudi J. Humanities Soc Sci, June., 2020; 5(6): 269-273

peers without disabilities as well as with the support of

adult guidance to gain a better understanding of the

concept being taught. For example, peer tutoring has

been found to be effective for students with disabilities

[15]. A second example is when a teacher provides

scaffolding. Scaffolding occurs when a great learning

support is provided at the time new concepts are

introduced and the support is slowly taken from the

student as he or she masters the content. All the three

theories describe how learning occurs in the classroom

both academically and socially. According to

Ntshangase, Mdikana and Cronk [16], high social

interaction is important not only for learners‟ academic

achievement but also for their long-term general well-

being and personal development. The zone of proximal

development, in conjunction with the social learning

theory, should theoretically help explain how students

with disabilities progress academically and increase

appropriate social interactions with placed within an

inclusion classroom [13].

Prospects of Inclusive Education Research indicates that at the elementary

school level, students with disabilities who are included

in general education curricula can benefit socially and

academically without facing the stigma of segregated or

pull-out classrooms. Standards for behavior and

instruction are higher, and students with classifications

have more opportunity to reach higher standards and

become independent learners [17.

Integration into the mainstream enables

students with disabilities to benefit from the stimulation

of mixing with relatively more able students and to

have the opportunity to observe higher models of social

and academic behaviour [5].

Inclusion has academic and social benefits for

all students, whether with or without disabilities, such

as increased communication and social interaction

opportunities, age-appropriate models of behaviour

skills, more active participation in the school

community, individualized education goals, as well as

access to the rich core curriculum [18]. Inclusion

recognizes that all students are learners who benefit

from a meaningful, challenging, and appropriate

curriculum and differentiated instruction techniques that

address their unique strengths and needs [19].

Studies also indicate that students without

disabilities can benefit from inclusive settings. Findings

reveal academic performance is equal or superior to

comparative groups of students educated in a non-

inclusive setting, and students with severe disabilities

do not significantly limit or interrupt instructional time

for nondisabled peers in inclusive settings. Friendships

and awareness of diversity are also benefits of the

inclusive classroom for individuals without disabilities

[3].

On an interpersonal level, inclusive education

allows children to develop friendships with their peers

and feel less social tension about their disabilities.

Some people believe that children who are placed in

standard classroom environments generally have higher

self-esteem than children who are isolated to different

classrooms simply because they have special needs

[20].

The implementation of inclusive education

system as against segregated education system has a

number of advantages. These include the fact that it

encourages students without disabilities to accept and

tolerate children with special needs; improve the

sociability of children with special needs; reduces the

cost of providing separate education for children with

and without special needs; eliminates or reduces social

stigma associated with people with special needs;

provides an all-round development of the child with and

without special needs; and enables children without

special needs develop positive attitude towards people

with handicapping conditions [21].

Challenges of Inclusive Education 1) Expense: Funding is a major constraint to

the practice of inclusion. Teaching students with

disabilities in general education classrooms take

specialists and additional staff to support students‟

need. Coordinating services and offering individual

support to children requires additional money that many

schools do not have, particularly in a tight economy

[22, 23]. Inadequate funding can hinder on-going

professional development that keeps both specialists

and classroom teachers updated on the best practices of

inclusion.

2) Misinformation: One of the greatest

challenges associated with inclusion in education is the

negative attitude. As with society in general, this

attitude and stereotype is often caused by a lack of

knowledge and understanding. Public enlightenment

work in schools must begin the process of educating the

school and the general community in order to eradicate

superstitions about causation of disabilities, and to

modify the fears and myths about children with

disabilities that create misunderstanding and inhibit

normal interaction [24]. If educators have negative

attitude towards students with special needs or have low

expectations of them, children will unlikely receive a

satisfactory inclusive education [25].

3) Lack of Qualified Personnel: A teacher with

no basic skills in special education may not see the need

to specify directions or positions when describing

certain things or ideas in a class with visually impaired

students. In a study carried out by Ajuwon [26] on

inclusive education in Nigeria, the scholar arrived at the

following findings: 'While most participants stated they

were tolerant of the diverse behaviours of their students

within the inclusive setting, they were less confident in

Dorcas Oluremi FAREO; Saudi J. Humanities Soc Sci, June., 2020; 5(6): 269-273

their abilities to manage the behaviors of students with

special needs. This lack of confidence in their

professional competency may indicate limited training

and/or exposure to inclusive practices'. Specifically, the

study found that 'In terms of educational qualification,

both a greater tolerance of potentially negative

behaviors and a greater understanding of the needs of

students with sensory disabilities were associated with

higher formal training. The motivation of participants

who have acquired advanced professional training may

have led them to embrace new conceptualizations in the

emerging field of inclusive education. This is a positive

finding which underscores the necessity to provide

ongoing professional development and training to

special educators'. In other words, the higher the

qualification of the regular teacher, the more positive

attitude he/she is likely to demonstrate towards the

notion of inclusion.

4) Accessibility: it is a fact that a student with

disability cannot learn in an inclusive classroom if he

cannot enter the classrooms, dormitories and hostels.

Some schools are still inaccessible to students in

wheelchairs or to those other elevators, ramps, paved

pathways and lifts to get in and round buildings.

Accessibility can go beyond passageways, stairs, and

ramps to recreational areas, paved pathways, and door

handles Fareo [22, 10].

5) Educational Modifications: Just as the

environment must be accessible to students with

disabilities, the curriculum must facilitate inclusive

education, too. General educators must be willing to

work with inclusion specialists to make modifications

in classroom and homework assignments. Teachers

should be flexible in how students learn and

demonstrate knowledge and understanding. Written

work, for example, should be limited if student cannot

write and can‟t accomplish the same or similar learning

objective through a different method.

6) Cooperation: Lack of communication

among administrators, teachers, specialists, staff,

parents and students inhibits the success of inclusive

programme. Open communication and coordinated

planning between the general education teachers and

special education staff are essential for inclusion to

work. Time is needed for teachers and specialists to

meet and create well-constructed plans to identify and

implement modification, accommodations, and specific

goals for individual students. Collaboration must also

exist among teacher, staff, and parents to meet a

student‟s needs and facilitates learning at home [10].

7) Facilities and Materials: Majority of the

children with special needs learn more in the

environment that is full of learning resources. These

learning resources are called assistive devices or

assistive technological device. Evidence suggests that

lack of relevant facilities and materials are major

obstacle to the implementation of effective

mainstreaming Fareo [22] investigated the problems of

mainstreaming in Southwestern State Nigeria. The data

indicated that the required educational materials were

not provided, or were inadequate in regular schools

where students with special needs were being

mainstreamed. Further still, the data indicated lack of

specialist teachers in most institutions to provide

important advisory services that would assist the regular

teachers managing the learners with special needs who

were being mainstreamed into public schools.

Implications for Counselling

Counselling services for students with special

needs is a necessary service that should be rendered by

counsellors, psychologists and special teachers working

with students with special needs in mainstreamed public

school system. In the light of the fore going

considerations, it is recommended to all school system

to initiate seminars, workshops and conferences for

parents of students with special needs; so that

awareness could be brought about on needs of families.

The curriculum should be modified to

accommodate learners with special needs different

learning style so as to achieve the needed change. There

is the need to get the machinery going towards the

process of monitoring, in order to ensure effective

implementation of inclusive schooling for children with

special needs.

Teachers‟ should collaborate with colleagues,

positive classroom management, and community

building are all effective strategies that teachers can

utilize within their classrooms in order to develop and

maintain social inclusivity.

Counselling the public for attitudinal change

would not only accommodate the students with special

needs in our society, but; would also make them to be

accepted as people of worth. Members of the public

should be enlightened to accept, respect and show

affection to students with special needs. If they have a

sense of belonging, their positive self-concept and self-

esteem will be enhanced.

Counsellors to appeal to Non-Governmental

Organizations (NGOs)s and philanthropists to build,

expand, repair and equip the existing facilities for

students with special needs in order to improve

inclusion.

CONCLUSION Students with disabilities who are included in

general education curricula can benefit socially and

academically without facing the stigma of segregated or

pull-out classrooms. However, the numerous challenges

battling with inclusion such as inadequate special

teachers to teach students with disabilities, lack of

material and facilities, inadequate funding by the

Dorcas Oluremi FAREO; Saudi J. Humanities Soc Sci, June., 2020; 5(6): 269-273

government to mention but few. The government,

school authority, teachers, community and parents

should rise to combat the problems in order to achieve

the desired goals.

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