After reading Africa: Special Education International Perspectives- Article 13 Ghana, also include the readings from Nigeria and South Africa to compare and contrast - please post on Canvas discussions brief descriptions regarding beliefs and perceptions

Special_Education_International_Perspectives_Pract..._----_Part_III_Africa.pdf

Home >Education homework help >After reading Africa: Special Education International Perspectives- Article 13 Ghana, also include the readings from Nigeria and South Africa to compare and contrast - please post on Canvas discussions brief descriptions regarding beliefs and perceptions

PART III

AFRICA

Rotatori, A. F., Bakken, J. P., Obiakor, F. E., & Saint, X. U. (. (Eds.). (2014). Special education international perspectives : practices across the globe. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com Created from marymountu on 2018-10-25 11:39:30.

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SPECIAL EDUCATION TODAY

IN NIGERIA

Festus E. Obiakor and C. Jonah Eleweke

ABSTRACT

Special education and related services began in Nigeria, the most popu- lous nation of Black people in the world, only a couple of decades ago courtesy of the efforts of missionaries from Europe and America. Although the government took over the responsibility of providing special education and related services to individuals in the late 1970s, evidence indicates that the provision of these services is beset by numerous formid- able obstacles such as the absence of supporting laws, inadequacies in funding of services, inclusion programs, early identification and interven- tion services, personnel training programs, facilities, and educational materials. This chapter discusses these issues and focuses on current ways to improve the provision of meaningful special education and related services for people with disabilities in Nigeria.

Historically, the formal provision of special education and related services developed in Nigeria only a couple of decades back. Nigeria is a country located in the west coast of Africa. With an estimated population of over 155

Special Education International Perspectives: Practices Across the Globe

Advances in Special Education, Volume 28, 377�395 Copyright r 2014 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 0270-4013/doi:10.1108/S0270-401320140000028019

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S0270-401320140000028019

million people, it is the most populous nation of Black people in the world (Index Mundi, 2011). Nigeria’s population is greater than that of the other 15 countries in West Africa combined. The country covers an area of 932,768 square kilometers and it is bordered on the north by Niger Republic, on the east by the Republic of Cameroon, on the west by the Benin Republic and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean (Eleweke, 1999a). Like in other developing countries, individuals with disabilities constitute a significant portion of the population due to inadequacies in nutrition, health care, and social services (Lang & Upah, 2008). Evidence is consistent that 80% of people with disabilities in the world live in Nigeria and other developing countries where inadequate nutrition, diseases, accidents, and poverty are common causes of disabilities (Lang, Groce, Kett, Trani, & Bailey, 2009; United Nations, 2011). Clearly, reliable data on the population of people with disabilities in Nigeria are lacking; and no valid census has been con- ducted in the country since after independence from Britain in 1960 (Obiakor, 1992; Obiakor & Maltby, 1989). However, going by World Health Organization and the World Bank (2011) estimates that disabilities occur in at least 15% of the world’s population (i.e., one billion people), it can be assumed that there are at least 22 million people with disabilities in Nigeria.

As it appears, the provision of special education and related services is of immense benefits to the teeming population of people with disabilities in Nigeria. Effective special education and related services ensures that these individuals are able to receive education and services that would help in the development of their talents and contribution to national and global developments. The provision of such services could be achieved by ensuring that educational programs for them adequately address important issues such as early intervention, parent education and participation, personnel training, facilities, effective inclusion programs, funding arrangement, and enabling policies and legislations (Obiakor, Eskay, & Afolayan, 2012). Thus, this chapter looks at the current conditions of special education services in Nigeria. In addition, it discusses future directions of special edu- cation in Nigeria.

DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN

NIGERIA

As indicated, the provision of special education and related services as a professional field is only a couple of decades old in Nigeria. This provision

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was instituted due to efforts by foreign missionaries in early and middle parts of the twentieth century (Obiakor & Bragg, 1998; Obiakor & Offor, 2012; Taiwo, 2007). Prior to the coming of missionaries and their efforts to initiate special education services, individuals with disabilities in Nigeria were neglected and in some instances rejected (Abang, 2005). Among the early Christian Missionaries were the Sudan United Mission (SUM), Roman Catholic Mission (RCM), Church Missionary Society (CMS), the American Southern Baptist Convention, the Seventh Day Adventist Mission, and the Sudan Interior Mission (see, Abang, 2005). Each of these religious organizations established special schools and other “regular” edu- cational institutions. For instance, in 1953, the SUM established the first special school for the blind in Gindiri, Plateau State in Northern Nigeria. The Training Center for the Blind, Ogbomosho (Osun State, Western Nigeria) was established by the Baptist Mission in 1960. Between 1957 and 1962 efforts of the Methodist Mission resulted in the establishment of Schools for the Deaf in Ibadan and Lagos (Abang, 2005; Obiakor & Offor, 2012; Okeke, 2001; Shonibare, 1997). Other pioneer special education insti- tutions established by missionaries included (a) Special Education Center, Orji River (Enugu State, Eastern Nigeria), which was established by the CMS in 1958 to cater for the deaf, blind, physically and mentally chal- lenged; (b) Pacelli School for the Blind, Lagos which the RCM established in 1962 to provide a wide range of academic programs for learners with visual disabilities; and (c) Atunde-Olu School for the Physically Handicapped (sic) Children, Lagos which was established by the Anglican Diocese of Lagos in 1965 to provide educational opportunities for the phy- sically challenged. Based on these details, one can conclude that special education programs in Nigeria were started by the efforts of religious orga- nizations. The major concern of the missionaries was to provide training in crafts, arts, music, and other manual training with few academic subjects in reading, numeracy, and writing to enable individuals with disabilities to acquire the skills to become independent and contributing members of the society (Obiakor, 1992; Obiakor & Maltby, 1989; Okonkwo, 2007).

After the Nigerian civil war in 1970, awash with millions of dollars from crude oil exports, the Federal Government of Nigeria embarked upon mas- sive rehabilitation and re-building programs that included setting up special education programs for the benefit of war veterans and other citizens with disabilities (Obiakor, 2004; Obiakor et al., 2012; Obiakor & Offor, 2012). In 1976, the Federal Government took over all the regular and special schools that were established by foreign missionaries and introduced the Universal Primary Education (UPE) program. The goal was to ensure free

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primary education for every Nigerian child regardless of disabilities (Obiakor et al., 2012; Obiakor & Offor, 2012; Taiwo, 2007). To demon- strate its seriousness of ensuring the success of the UPE for learners with disabilities in the country, the government established the Federal College of Special Education (FCOE, Oyo) in 1977. In addition, Departments of Special Education were established at federal universities located in Ibadan, Jos, Calabar, Nsukka, and at the Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna (Abang, 2005; Taiwo, 2007). These initiatives began to ensure that special education teachers of all kinds were trained and available to meet the demands of implementing the UPE (Obiakor & Bragg, 1998).

PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF DISABILITIES

IN NIGERIA

Reliable and valid data on the incidence and prevalence of disabilities in Nigeria are scanty given that the country has held no valid census since after independence from Britain in 1960. Nonetheless, a recent national baseline survey of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria in 2011 by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (FMWASD) provided some interesting insights. The FMWASD is the min- istry responsible for issues affecting PWDs in Nigeria. The survey was necessary because the government recognized that the absence or inade- quacy of data on disabilities prevents appropriate policy formulation, planning, and implementation of effective rehabilitation programs. Accordingly, the survey was designed to generate comprehensive data on the size and characteristics of PWDs in Nigeria, to provide appropriate support mechanisms to facilitate the delivery of relevant, effective, and timely services to persons with disabilities. The nation-wide baseline survey, covered 10,648 households in the 36 States of the country and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The data indicated that 95.9% of the Questionnaires/Modules used for the survey were completed and found useable. This meant a great enthusiasm to participate in the survey by PWDs. Further, the report indicated that the response rate was more than 60% in all survey locations.

The data on geographical distribution, spread, and spatial magnitude of PWDs revealed that disabilities are very common in all parts of Nigeria. The report indicated a national average of 3.2% prevalence of PWDs vis-à- vis the national population, thus suggesting that about 15 million

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Nigerians are living with one form of disability or the other. The rates of disabilities in the total population were found to vary in the geo-political zones in the country, namely: North-West (5.0%), South-East (4.5%), South-South (3.3%), North-Central (2.6), North-East (2.4%), and the South-West (2.1%). Data from the survey indicated that variations in the gender distribution of PWDs among the geo-political zones with more men than women living with disabilities. Such observation was significantly elevated in the North-West (5.6% vs. 3.5%), South-East (5.3% vs. 3.8%), South-South (3.7% vs. 2.8%) and North-Central (3.4% vs. 2.2%) than North-East (2.8% vs. 2.0%) and the South-West (2.3% vs. 1.6%). Data from the survey indicated that, taking the country as a whole, the majority of the PWDs were living in urban areas (58.6%) as compared to rural areas (41.4%). As per the geo-political zones, the data for the percentages living in urban centers versus rural areas were the South-West (77.1% vs. 22.9%), North-Central (68.2% vs. 31.8%), South-South (61.2% vs. 38.8%), North- West (51.7% vs. 48.3%), and North-East (51.3% vs. 48.7%). The result of urban�rural distribution of PWDs in the South-East was different. There were more PWDs in rural areas (63.8%) than urban areas (36.2%). It remains an issue of concern that majority of PWDs in Nigeria are living in urban areas and depend on begging for alms as the means of survival.

Based on the aforementioned survey, the data indicated that causes of disabilities in Nigeria were mainly traced to illnesses, accidents, congenital abnormalities, and unknown factors. In the North-Central zone, illnesses (60.4%) followed by congenital abnormalities (12.7%), accidents (12.1%) and unknown factors (0.7%) were major causes of disabilities. Similarly, ill- nesses accounted for most of the PWDs in in the North-East (70.1%), North-West (73.2%), South-East (60.2%), South-South (51.0%), and the South-West (64.3%). The data indicated that the causes of disabilities among PWDs in general were: illnesses (59.6%); accidents (20.1%); conge- nital abnormalities (16.0%); and the unknown factors (0.4%). The disabil- ities of 70% PWDs in the North-East were results of illnesses as against 66.8% in the North-West, 56.9% in the South-East, 52.7% in the South- South, and 48.4% in the South-West. Accident-induced disabilities were reported by more in the South-East (22.8%), South-South (22.0%) and South-West (21.6%), than in the North-Central (19.4%), North-East (14.3%), and North-West (12.6%). In addition to investigating the causes of disability, the survey also examined the prevalence of various types of disabilities in Nigeria. The types were physical disabilities (27.09%), deaf- ness/hearing loss (23.76%), mental illness (13.44%), visual/blindness (12.22%) and intellectual disability (7.26%), speech defect (6.41%), cerebral

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palsy (3.68%), the unspecified category of disabilities referred to as others (3.11%), and autism (3.02%). These rates, however, could be questionable given that they are well below WHO and World Bank (2011) estimates of 15% of the population in developing countries to be PWDs. Apparently; it is only from a valid national census that reliable data on disability issues can be gleaned. Nonetheless, the effort to conduct this aforementioned survey is commendable.

NIGERIA’S NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION

The National Policy on Education (NPE) which was first formulated in 1977 has a section devoted to educational services of individuals with spe- cial needs. This policy that was revised in 1981 contains numerous promises concerning the provision of appropriate educational and relevant services to citizens with special needs in Nigeria (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1981). According to article 55 of the document, the purpose and objectives of special needs provision specifically include:

(a) to give concrete meaning to the idea of equalizing educational opportunities for all

children, their physical, mental and emotional disabilities notwithstanding;

(b) to provide adequate education for all handicapped (sic) children and adults in

order that they may fully play their roles in the development of the nation; and

pace in the interest of the nation’s economic and technological development.

To achieve the above goals, the next article in the document highlighted actions that the government would embark upon (see Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1981). These proposed actions noted that:

1. The Federal Ministry of Education will set up a committee to co- ordinate special needs provision in collaboration with the ministries of Health, Social Welfare and Labour.

2. A census of individuals with disabilities in the country will be conducted in order to adequately plan services to meet their needs.

3. Government will accept the responsibility for the training/provision of qualified personnel in all aspects of special needs provision.

4. Government will provide the necessary facilities to ensure effective inte- gration of most learners with special needs and those who are academi- cally gifted in regular educational institutions.

5. The education of individuals with disabilities will be free up to university level.

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6. Vocational institutions will be established and suitable employment opportunities will be created for individuals with disabilities.

7. Children’s clinics will be attached to most hospitals in order to encou- rage prevention, early detection, and timely initiation of curative/ rehabilitative measures.

8. A committee on special education and a national council for rehabilita- tion of individuals with disabilities will be established to ensure full implementation of these programs.

Clearly, the promises in the policy document for individuals with disabil- ities in Nigeria are lofty. However, with the exception of the training of special education teachers, virtually all other promises of the policy docu- ment have remained at the theoretical level (Eleweke, 1999a, 1999b; Eleweke, 2002a, 2002b; Mukuria & Obiakor, 2004; Obiakor, 1992, 2000, 2004; Obiakor et al., 2012; Obiakor & Offor, 2012). Consequently, services for individuals with disabilities in Nigeria remain inadequate and unsatis- factory. For instance, the majority of public buildings such as schools, places of employment, libraries, health and recreation facilities are not accessible to wheelchair users in the country (Hamzat & Dada, 2005). Discussed below are a few important factors accounting for this situation and the unsatisfactory implementation of special education and related services in Nigeria.

Absence of Legislative Support

The provisions of effective special education and related services cannot be achieved without relevant legislations outlining implementation steps. Evidence indicates that Nigeria has no serious civil rights legislation that supports the implementation of special education services or protects the rights of citizens with disabilities to receive specific services (Eleweke, 1999a, 1999b; Hamzat & Dada, 2005; Lang & Upah, 2008). The issues con- tained in the NPE ought to be important elements of any special education legislation for the country. In the absence of such a law the provisions in the NPE document cannot be implemented for the benefit of Nigerians with disabilities. Interestingly, Nigeria had signed and ratified numerous United Nations Declarations on Rights of the Disabled and the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (United Nations, 2006). The 50 Articles in the UN Convention are similar to those in the NPE, although with more details. Their goals are basically the same. A major

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over-riding goal is that governments should ensure the provision of condi- tions that should enable people with disabilities to develop to their fullest potential and become productive and contributing members of the society. Clearly, the UN Convention is significant because it is the first inter- nationally legally binding instrument that will hold nations that sign it accountable for appropriate robust policies and effective implementation procedures geared toward upholding the rights and dignities of persons with disabilities (Lang & Upah, 2008; Mukuria & Obiakor, 2004).The ques- tion then is, Why will the Nigerian government rectify these international documents that outline actions for enhancing the lives of people with dis- abilities and not have the political will to enact supporting laws for these individuals? This critical question remains an enigma.

The importance of enabling legislation that ensures the implementation of special education and related objectives such as those contained in the UN Convention and NPE cannot be underestimated (Mee & Michael, 2011). Evidence is consistent that mandatory policies and laws are essential to ensure that required services will be provided to individuals with disabil- ities. Mandatory policies and laws are important in the implementation of policy objectives and provision of services because they are powerful orders that must be obeyed. Clearly, these policies and laws are necessary in Nigeria because they provide: (a) protective safeguards which guarantee the rights of Nigerians with disabilities to receive services specified in the NPE, (b) time of onset and phase plans, (c) consequential effect (i.e., punishment) for non-compliance, (d) room for litigation, (e) accountability, evaluation and monitoring procedures, and (f) financial backing and struc- ture (Eleweke, 1999a, 1999b; Mukuria & Obiakor, 2004; Obiakor, 1992, 2000, 2004; Obiakor & Offor, 2012).

The enactment and implementation of mandatory laws and regulations will greatly facilitate the implementation of goals of the NPE for people with disabilities in Nigeria. To a large measure they provide guidance for the delivery of appropriate special education and related services to indivi- duals with disabilities and guaranteeing their rights to receive these services. Clearly, the key elements of appropriate legislation that would facilitate the implementation of provisions in the NPE document are: (a) clear policy guidelines on provisions, (b) coherent framework for provisions, (c) conduit of resources and guarantee of client satisfaction, and (d) enforcement of provisions. Thus, a framework for implementing and monitoring legislative enactments needs to be developed if they are to have the intended effects. Obviously, without a legislation to support implementation as it is cur- rently the case in Nigeria, provisions in the NPE document may not be

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mandatory or even obligatory (Lang & Upah, 2008; Obiakor, 2000; Obiakor et al., 2012; Obiakor & Offor, 2012).

Absence of Funding Structure

It is not surprising that since Nigeria has not enacted a law to support the provision of special education and related services, the financial supports necessary for implementation will be lacking. In other words, financial backing and structure for program implementation should be an important component of a law supporting the provision of special education and related services in Nigeria. Evidence indicates that Nigeria has so far made no commitment to give robust financial support to the implementation of the goals of NPE or other services and programs that would enhance the lives of citizens with disabilities (Lang & Upah, 2008). No doubt, a well- structured funding arrangement is desirable for meeting the cost of provid- ing adequate services for these individuals.

Data available on the structure of funding of services for individuals with disabilities in Nigeria are at best scanty. In general, these services are not adequately funded (Barnes & Sheldon, 2010; Lang et al., 2009). Evidence suggests that in Nigeria expenditure on disability programs remains a low priority area (Eleweke, 1999a, 1999b; Garuba, 2003; OnlineNigeria, 2011). Sadly, it has been argued that governments in Nigeria and other developing countries perceive financial investment in the provision of services for individuals with disabilities as a waste (Mba, 1995). These governments consider providing adequate funding for mean- ingful and qualitative services for individuals with disabilities as a kind of contribution of surplus fund to charity (Mukuria & Obiakor, 2004; Obiakor, 1992, 2000, 2004). Consequently the rights of these individuals to receive services such as those articulated in the NPE document remain a deferred dream.

Lack of Effective Inclusion Programs

Although evidence indicates that most educational institutions for students with special needs in Nigeria are segregated, the need for these learners to be integrated and educated in regular schools is acknowledged. Thanks to numerous United Nations Declarations on the “Rights of the Disabled,” inclusive education has been accepted, at least in principle, in Nigeria and

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many other developing countries (Cherema, 2010; UNESCO, 2009). The question is whether the necessary resources and supports to ensure the suc- cess of inclusive programs are available in the country. Clearly, the provi- sion of effective special education and related services for individuals with disabilities requires more inclusive environments to enhance equality and access to programs and services.

The NPE document in Nigeria highlighted the need for people with dis- abilities to access services and programs in inclusive settings. While there seems to be some awareness that inclusion is necessary to fight discrimina- tion and negative attitude toward people with disabilities, practices seem to continue to foster exclusion. Hence, Part 8 of the NPE document, for instance, considers inclusion as “the most realistic form of special educa- tion” for learners with disabilities in the country. Nonetheless, evidence is consistent that inclusion programs, in educational milieu, are not being satisfactorily implemented in Nigeria (Ajuwon, 2008; Garuba, 2003; Obiakor & Bragg, 1998; Obiakor & Offor, 2012). Factors such as the absence of support services, relevant materials and support personnel are major problems that hinder the implementation of effective inclusion of learners with disabilities in Nigerian schools. It is evident that due to archi- tectural barriers, most places of education, employment, and recreation remain inaccessible to wheelchair users (Hamzat & Dada, 2005). Alade (2004) reported that some school administrators in the country would not accept students with physical disabilities even if such students crawl to get around because of architectural barriers. Consequently, many of such lear- ners stay at home and the opportunity to learn is denied to them. In other words, they are denied the chance of developing their skills and contribut- ing their quota to national development.

Lack of Early Identification and Intervention Policies and Programs

The importance of early identification and intervention for effective special needs provision is well documented in the literature (Guralnick & Albertini, 2006; Steele, 2004). Evidence is consistent that early identification and intervention for any form of disability is critical to their early child- hood development (Goode, Diefendorf, & Colgan, 2011). It is during this period that the child’s social, emotional, physical, and intellectual develop- ments take place. Early identification and intervention are important to facilitate the implementation of programs in the early formative years. Such programs assist children with special needs to realize their maximum

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potential. Timely identification leads to the initiation of individualized pro- grams, counseling of parents, appropriate school placement, and public awareness campaigns (Derrington, Shapiro, & Smith, 2003). These identifi- cation and intervention programs should be planned as ongoing aspects of effective special education programs, which respond to different needs of developing persons at different stages of their development (Mukuria & Obiakor, 2004; Obiakor et al., 2012).

While the importance of early identification and intervention is acknowl- edged in the NPE document, evidence indicates clearly that in Nigeria early identification and intervention programs are lacking because educational and health services remain grossly inadequate (Muga, 2003; Ogbonna, 1990). Indeed, research suggests that there exists no policy or guidelines on early infant hearing screening in the country (Eleweke, 1997). As a result, children with deafness, for example, are not identified early and provided with the necessary services to facilitate their development. The late detec- tion and resultant delay in the initiation of rehabilitative programs pose adverse consequences for children’s language, communication, educational, and socio-emotional developments. Clearly, early identification and inter- vention programs remain a myth in Nigeria as a result of (a) absence of an enabling policy, (b) financial constraints, (c) limited human resources, and (d) lack of political will.

Inadequate Personnel Training Programs

The provision of effective special education and related services for stu- dents with special needs necessitates the involvement of different profes- sionals to assist in the identification, referral, diagnosis, and providing services to these students (Obiakor, 2000, 2004). Such professionals include (a) special needs teachers of different kinds, (b) psychologists, (c) guidance counselors, (d) peripatetic teachers, (e) educational technologists, (f) speech and language therapists, (g) audiologists, and (h) communication support workers such as interpreters and note takers. Research indicates that ade- quately trained teachers and support personnel of different kinds are neces- sary to provide meaningful educational services to all students. Almost two decades ago, Prater, Savage-Davis, Fuhler, Marks, and Minner (1997) observed that properly trained, bright, and hard-working staff can improve the chances of any new program to be successful. Through creative staff development, initiatives, and innovative ideas many barriers such as lack of funding and poor physical facilities could be tackled. Well-trained

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personnel are needed to lead classrooms and promote high academic achievements for learners with special needs. Evidently, effective training programs are required to produce competent professionals needed to work in various aspects of special education and related services.

One of the goals of the NPE that has been put into practice is that of training special education teachers in universities at Ibadan, Jos, Nsukka, Calabar, the Oyo Federal College of Special Education, and the Kaduna Polytechnic to mention a few. However, training programs for specialist personnel such as educational audiologists, psychologists, guidance counse- lors, educational technologists, speech and language pathologists and com- munication support workers such as interpreters are not available in many of these institutions (Eleweke, 1999b; Obiakor, 1992, 2000, 2004; Okeke, 1998). Further, concerns remain about the adequacies of the special educa- tion teacher training programs in Nigeria in view of the lack of relevant special materials and facilities in the institutions (Eleweke, 1999b). Many years ago, Adima (1988) explained that many of Nigeria’s teachers might be incompetent because “special education is a dumping ground for stu- dents who have been rejected by other disciplines ….They come into special education as students who have nothing else to do. One of the implications of this is that poor students are offered admission leading to the production of mediocre special education teachers” (pp. 54�55). Data compiled by Adima indicated that between 1974 to 1985 the three main institutions in Nigeria offering training programs for specialist teachers had produced a total of 1,366 teachers of students with special needs (of different categories and levels: certificate, diploma, National Certificate of Education, bachelor degree in education and post graduate), yet only 10% of these teachers were working in institutions for students with special needs. Adima inferred from the data that 90% of the special teachers trained had no interest in working with students with disabilities and that they used their qualifica- tions in special education as “stepping stones” to the realization of other career goals.

Lack of Facilities

The provision of quality special education and related services for students with special needs requires the availability of sufficient varieties of materials and facilities (Obiakor et al., 2012; Obiakor & Offor, 2012). Pertinent ques- tions are: What materials are to be used? Where will they be found? Who will provide them and when? Indicators of sufficiency or availability of

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facilities and materials for education of students include adequately stocked libraries, science laboratories with the necessary equipment and chemicals, vocational and technical workshops with equipment and devices, adequate dormitories, and recreational facilities.

Available evidence indicates that the necessary equipment and materials for effective instruction to these students are inadequate or non-existent in many educational institutions in Nigeria (Eleweke, 2002a, 2002b). For instance, a survey of educational programs for deaf students in the country indicated that most of the schools lacked libraries, science laboratories, and workshops for vocational training (Eleweke, 2002a). The lack of materials, facilities, and support services in educational institutions affects adversely the success of students with disabilities at all levels (Mukuria & Obiakor, 2004; Obiakor & Offor, 2012). Clearly, this situation suggests that students with special needs in Nigeria are not receiving the right type of education they deserve. The inadequacies in the provision of facilities deprive Nigerian students their right to proper education and makes a mockery of the ideals of equalizing educational opportunities for all children as stated in the NPE document.

FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

It is evident from the foregoing discussions that the provision of special education or related services in Nigeria leaves much to be desired. For the present condition to improve, actions are required in several areas. Despite the prevailing developmental difficulties, economic and political upheaval in the country, improvements in the provision of special education and related services is possible if the government could strive to take appropri- ate actions and utilize the available resources as efficiently as possible. Most importantly, strong determination by the government characterized by concrete actions rather than mere rhetoric is imperative for marked improvements to occur. Actions are required in the areas that follow in order to achieve this goal (Obiakor, 2000, 2004; Obiakor & Offor, 2012).

It is obvious that the improvements in the provision of special education and related services cannot be achieved without strong legal framework. It is therefore a big challenge to the government in Nigeria to take affirmative actions that would lead to enacting and implementing relevant laws. There has been disability legislation in the works since Nigeria return to civilian rule in 1999. The bill was passed and harmonized by both chambers of the

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National Assembly in 2010 but has been awaiting presidential assent (Businessday, 2011). There is an urgent need to enact that law to give legal support to the provision of special education and related services in Nigeria. Enacting this law will give impetus to improving services for Nigerians with disabilities so that they could develop their potential and contribute to national development (Obiakor & Maltby, 1989; Obiakor et al., 2012; Obiakor & Offor, 2012).

If improvements are to manifest in the implementation of meaningful and effective special education programs in Nigeria, it is essential that all educational institutions in the country be adequately equipped and staffed to welcome all learners regardless of abilities or disabilities. It remains a challenge to the Nigerian government and educational authorities to ensure that schools are provided with facilities necessary for the implementation of meaningful special education and related services. The government should encourage selected firms in the country, for instance, by providing necessary incentives such as tax breaks and inexpensive lands for expan- sion, to boost the production of educational equipment and materials. The goal must be to ensure that all schools are adequately equipped for the implementation of meaningful special education programs in the country.

Given the ever-increasing population of the country, there is a need to establish more teacher training programs to ensure that all schools are ade- quately staffed for the effective implementation of special education pro- grams for all learners with special needs. If improvement is to be achieved in the country, it is imperative that these training institutions develop programs for the training of support staff such as interpreters for deaf people, educa- tional audiologists, educational psychologists, speech and language thera- pists, and guidance counselors. More institutions of higher learning in the country must be equipped and upgraded to offer programs for training these professionals. These training institutions should consider the use of the UNESCO Teacher Resource Pack (Ainscow, 1994) in their training pro- grams. The pack has been specifically designed to facilitate the training of teachers for implementing inclusive education by restructuring schools and classrooms along inclusive lines so that the needs of all learners could be identified and addressed. Mittler (2000) reported that the pack is now in use in over 50 countries in both pre-service and in-service training programs and it has been translated into 15 languages. The pack clearly has been found to be extremely useful and thus could assist greatly in teacher training programs to improve special education services in Nigerian schools.

It is recommended that the Nigerian government give adequate attention to the issue of making services accessible and inclusive for people with

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disabilities in the context of the new community-based rehabilitation (CBR) guidelines launched in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja in 2010 (World Health Organization, 2010). These guidelines were designed to empower persons with disabilities by supporting their inclusion in health, education, employment, recreation, skills training, and other community services (Christian Blind Mission, 2010). This is essential because the vast majority of people with disabilities in Nigeria live in rural areas and need to access service to develop their potential. An effective CBR program is one positive means of improving special education and related services. It focuses on enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families, meeting basic needs and ensuring inclusion and participation. Initiated in the mid-1980s, it has evolved to become a multi-sectorial strat- egy that empowers persons with disabilities to access and benefit from edu- cation, employment, health and social services. It has been implemented through the combined efforts of people with disabilities, their families, organizations and communities, relevant government and non-government, health, education, vocational, social, and other services. Clearly, it is a community-based approach that helps to ensure that development reaches the poor and marginalized, and facilitates more inclusive, realistic, and sus- tainable initiatives (World Health Organization, 2010).

Alade (2004) reported that the community-based vocational rehabilita- tion program the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Development Program (ILO/UNDP), initiated in Western Nigeria that could be one means to enable more people with disabilities in the country to acquire skills that could lead to self-employment. However, reli- able data on the progress of the program in the country are scarce. It seems to be the case that too much bureaucracy and inadequate funding adversely affect this program.

A ministry responsible for disability and rehabilitation should be created at federal, state, and local government levels. Presently, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is charged with disability issues in Nigeria. Sadly, these issues, such as developing and implementing CBR pro- grams, are put at the back burner (Lang & Upah, 2008). Nonetheless, if ade- quately planned and implemented, CBR will facilitate addressing many of the challenges of disability services articulated in the NPE document in Nigeria.

Advocacy organizations for people with disabilities in Nigeria should strive to become more active to exert sufficient pressure on the government (at both state and federal levels) to take the needs of people with disabilities into consideration in policy formulation and implementation. The history of special education and related services provision in many countries of the

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world acknowledge the important roles of pressure groups for people with disabilities in bringing about the needed changes and improvements in ser- vices (Obiakor, 2000, 2004). Evidence indicates that in many countries, these pressure groups have continued to assume greater responsibility by exerting pressure on governments to provide needed services and to enact and enforce legislations guaranteeing the rights of people with disabilities. Indeed, Lang and Upah (2008) argued that the main reason for the exis- tence of organizations for people with disabilities is to advocate for the advancement and enforcement of the rights of people with disabilities because at its foundation, disability is a human rights issue. Hurst (1995) argued this point nearly two decades ago when he concluded that powerful disability movements are required to influence governments to enact laws on disability services in many western countries. People with disabilities must take a leading role in their own empowerment process to agitate for the enactment of laws and provision of appropriate services. In addition, various associations of people with disabilities in Nigeria under their national umbrella � Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JANOPWD) must play significant roles in persuading the gov- ernment to recognize the needs of citizens with disabilities by enacting a law that will facilitate improvements in the provision of services.

CONCLUSION

This chapter has focused on the current nature of special education in Nigeria. In addition, it has dealt with prospects and future directions of services for persons with disabilities. No doubt, the provision of special education services in Nigeria remains unsatisfactory. In other words, the majority of individuals with disabilities in Nigeria are not receiving ser- vices. Although the government included a section on special education provision in the National Policy on Education, it remains the case that apart from establishing institutions of higher education that train teachers for learners with special needs, virtually all other promises in the policy docu- ment remain at the theoretical level. There is no legislation to support the implementation of the provisions in the policy document. In the absence of an enabling law, it is not surprising that obstacles to implementation such as lack of funding structure, facilities, materials, and personnel remain. Nonetheless, we believe progress in implementing the provisions of the pol- icy document can occur, if the government enacts the disability legislation

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that has been in the works since 1999. A presidential commission should be set up to ensure full implementation of the disability legislation. Reporting directly to the President of the Republic, the Commission will achieve much. Clearly, the current arrangement whereby disability issues are handled by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is making no impact. It seems to be the case that disability issues are not con- sidered important. Consequently, very little funding is provided to improve services. We recommend that in addition to the Commission, Ministries of Disability and Rehabilitation should be created at the federal, state, and local government levels. Given that disabilities affect a significant portion of the population, it is proper to establish ministries that will be in charge of special education and rehabilitation services. Such ministries will plan their own budget and programs to ensure people with disabilities in Nigeria receive all the needed services to develop to their fullest potential and contribute to national and global developments.

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SPECIAL EDUCATION TODAY IN

SOUTH AFRICA

Sigamoney Naicker

ABSTRACT

The chapter on special education in South Africa initiates with a very comprehensive historical account of the origins of special education making reference to the inequalities linked to its colonial and racist past to a democratic society. This intriguing section ends with the most recent development in the new democracy form special needs education to inclusive education. Next, the chapter provides prevalence and incidence data followed by trends in legislation and litigation. Following these sections, detailed educational interventions are dis- cussed in terms of policies, standards and research as well as working with families. Then information is provided on regular and special edu- cation teacher roles, expectations and training. Lastly, the chapter comprehensively discusses South Africa’s special education progress and challenges related to budgetary support, staff turnover, and a lack of prioritizing over the number of pressing education goals in the country’s provinces.

Special Education International Perspectives: Practices Across the Globe

Advances in Special Education, Volume 28, 397�429 Copyright r 2014 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 0270-4013/doi:10.1108/S0270-401320140000028020

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S0270-401320140000028020

INTRODUCTION

The policy of inclusive education in South Africa, adopted in 2001 at a country level, is a radical departure from its previous special education pol- icy. The radical changes that have taken place in South Africa after the transition from an apartheid state to a new democratic country in 1994 did not leave special education untouched. The policy process underpinned by the human rights culture impacted significantly on shifting thinking from special education towards an inclusive approach to education. Like general education, special education was one of the most unequal areas of educa- tion with resources skewed leaving the majority of the black population neglected in terms of access to schooling, teacher training and almost all aspects of schooling.

The post-apartheid dispensation, in view of a lack of a human rights cul- ture, advanced human rights as a key component of transformation towards a non-racial society. Special Education was targeted as a very important area that required a human rights culture. The South African education sys- tem in developing White Paper Six on Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System which was launched in 2001, pre- pared the foundation for the transformation of special education. The major plan was to rupture theories, assumptions, models, tools and practices of Special Education thus creating the conditions for Inclusive Education strongly underpinned by a human rights culture.

Similar to the other policy processes, South Africans had to contend with a number of policy interventions that were competing in a tough fiscal environment. Besides the financial constraints, there were several backlogs as a result of 350 years of colonial rule that favoured the minority popula- tion whilst the majority of black people occupied the status of either the working class or underclass. The policy intention and how it played itself out in different contexts will be some of the issues that are given considera- tion in this chapter.

ORIGINS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN SOUTH

AFRICA FROM ITS COLONIAL AND RACIST PAST TO

A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

The history of South African special education provision and education support services, like all other aspects of South African life during the

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colonial and apartheid era was largely influenced by fiscal inequalities in terms of race (Naicker, 2005). In the light of the different and complex developments in special education and education support services in South Africa, the history of special education and education support ser- vices has been divided into historical phases(see Table 1) (Naicker, 1999, 2005).

There are difficulties in clearly demarcating the above phases and in por- traying the complexities which existed within the fragmented African sec- tion of the South African population. These complexities include: (1) the introduction of the Homelands with their own separate policies (or rather, lack therefore) which was manifested in very limited provision in, for exam- ple the Transkei, Ciskei, and Bophutswana; (2) different policies of the South Africa Department of Education and Training which is responsible for the nation’s education; (3) policies shaped by South Africa’s Bantu Education Act of 1953; (4) the fragmented nature of South Africa’s society based on racial distinction; and (5) the varying state policies with different intervention times for whites, Africans, who were divide into Homelands and locally, coloureds, and Indians. With these complexities in mind, the following section delineates the four phrases.

PHASE ONE: ABSENCE OF PROVISION (1700S�1800S) Here, as everywhere else in the world, the South African society in the 1700s and early 1800s saw little provision for any type of special education

Table 1. Different Phases and Stages in the Development of Special Education in South Africa.

Phase Stage Characterization

1 Lack of provision

2 1 Provision by church and private organizations

2 Development of standardized tests

3 Development of medical model

3 1 Beginning of institutional apartheid and the provision of disparate services

2 Racially segregated education and the development of special education services

3 Special education in homelands and Bantustans and the promotion and

politicize of ethnic differences by the apartheid government

4 Developments in the new democracy

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need. Mostly, persons with disabilities were viewed by society as a sign of ‘divine displeasure’, a superstitious attitude which led to the chaining, imprisonment and killing of people later recognized as persons with intel- lectually impairments, physical disabilities, visual impairments, hearing impairments, and emotionally disturbance. The ‘divine displeasure’ attitude influenced to a large extent the negative treatment of people who were constructed as disabled within the South African context since it was a colonized territory.

PHASE TWO: WHITE-DOMINATED PROVISION, AND

THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE CHURCH (FROM

LATE 1800S�1963) Stage One: Provisioning by Church, Private Organizations and

Society, and the Racist Nature of the State

The title of this phase is self-explanatory and intentionally used to reflect the oppressive nature of special education policy on the part of the South Africa state during the period 1863�1963. Whilst the effect of racial prac- tices is still being felt today, long after 1963, this particular phase began to set the pattern for later years and was most striking in terms of racial dispa- rities. These disparities become evident when one looks at the chronology of special education provisions. For example, no special education provi- sion was made by the South Africa state for African children. In fact, it took a century for the state to provide subsidies for African persons with hearing impairments, visual impairments, and physical disabilities. These subsidies occurred in 1963.

The church played an important role during this phase. It initiated the first provision of special education for children with disabilities for both white and ‘non-white’ children, through the Dominican Grimley School for the Deaf in 1863. In 1863, Dr Grimley, Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, who had been actively associated with the education of the deaf in Dublin, invited the Irish Dominican sisters to work in South Africa. The superior of the pioneer group of sisters, Mother Dympna, began to teach some deaf children on her arrival at the Cape and shortly afterwards the Grimley Institute (now known as Dominican Grimley School) was founded under the patronage of the Vicar Apostolic.

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More importantly, the church continued to provide a service to ‘non- white’ children in the absence of state provision for these children for the next century. The church’s special education provision was an important factor in South Africa’s recognition of the existence of white church- run schools in 1900 which lead to the state’s promulgation of the White Education Act 29 in 1928. This Act, allowed the State Education Department to establish vocational schools and special schools for ‘white’ children with disabilities.

The White Education Act 29 of 1928 provides the first signal of the model of special education in South Africa. Although it mainly concerned white learners, it provided the foundation for South Africa’s Special Education Act of 1948. This Act made provision for separate special schools for several categories of disability which include the: deaf, hard of hearing, blind, partially sighted, epileptic, cerebral palsy and physically disabled. Act 29 worked on the assumption that learners were deficient and that their deficiencies were pathological, a perspective that was strongly influenced by the medical thinking of professionals at that time. Unfortunately, this pathological perspective associated disability with impairment and loss and it did not take systemic deficiencies into consideration.

The state increasingly favoured white students with special needs and in 1937 passed the Special Schools Amendment Act which created the first provision for hostels in special schools for whites. The provision of hostels meant that provision was made for learners to live in the schools they attended. Positively, the church and other private associations and societies continued to provide support for ‘non-white’ children. For example, they were responsible for establishing (1) the Athlone School for the Blind for coloured children, (2) a school for blind Indian children and (3) the Worcester School for coloured children with epilepsy. South Africa has a fairly long history with regards to the education of learners with disabil- ities. It started 1863 when the Roman Catholic Church established the first school for deaf children in Cape Town.

From the initiatives taken by the Catholic and other churches, the service gradually grew to the current 20 schools for blind, 47 for deaf, 54 for physically disabled and cerebral palsied, 2 for autistic and quite a number for intellectually disabled learners. The establishment of schools for disabled learners was mainly due to private initiative (churches, other private organizations and individuals) and for specific disability groups.

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Stage Two: Development of Tests as a Precursor to Institutional Special Education and Education Support Services

The 1920s saw the first development of intelligence tests in South Africa. Professor Eybers, of the then University College of Orange Free State, pub- lished an individual intelligence scale called the Grey Revision of the Stanford-Binet Scale (Behr, 1980, 1984). The development of tests to evalu- ate students with special education needs continued in white education and their usage in schools increased. For instance, in 1924, a committee, appointed by the Research Grants Board of the Union Department of Mines and Industries and under the chairmanship of Professor R. W. Wilcocks, designed a test, which came to be known as the South African Group Test of Intelligence. This marked the first connection between edu- cation and the labour market in South Africa and was the precursor to aptitude tests. Later, in 1926, Professor J. Coetzee of Potchefstroom University published the first standardized arithmetic test in South Africa for whites. In 1929, both the Wilcocks and Coetzee tests were used in the Carnegie Poor White Survey and later in the Bilingualism Survey (Behr, 1980). The Poor White Survey was commissioned to establish ways in which the poor whites could be uplifted. There was a fear that that poor whites and poor blacks will socialize which could lead to a multi-racial society.

In 1939, Dr. Fick developed the individual Scale of General Intelligence for South African Schools. This scale was used in schools to assess the cog- nitive capacity of students with disabilities until the mid-60s. The scale was the precursor of categorization and labelling of students with intellectual and learning disabilities. Unfortunately, since IQ tests were later used not only for whites, but also for all children to assess intelligence in children and place them in special education programmes, it perpetuated the ‘exclu- sive’ education philosophy in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In addition, these tests became a highly valued component to psychological services in schools (currently associated with education support services), a basis for adaptation classes (in Coloured Education), adjustment classes (in Indian Education) and remedial education.

Stage Three: The Genesis of the Medical Model

The 1948 Special Schools Act in white education introduced into special education a model that incorporated a medical and mental diagnosis and

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treatment. This model focused on the individual deficit theory and viewed the person as a helpless being. The model was firmly entrenched in the charity and lay discourses (Fulcher, 1989). The medical discourse shaped and largely influenced ‘exclusive’ special education practices in the field which continued for decades after its introduction in South Africa’s educa- tion system due to its highly convincing theme which, according to Fulcher (1989):

Suggests, through its correspondence theory of meaning, that disability is an obser-

vable or intrinsic, objective attribute or characteristic of a person, rather than a

social construct. Through the notion that impairment means loss, and the assump-

tion that impairment or loss underlies disability, medical discourse on disability has

deficit individualistic connotations. Further, through its presumed scientific status

and neutrality, it depoliticizes disability; disability is seen as a technical issue, (and)

thus beyond the exercise of power. Medical discourse individualizes disability, in the

sense that it suggests individuals have diseases or problems or incapacities as attri-

butes. (p. 28)

Thus, disability was associated with an impairment or loss. The entire focus was on the individual who was viewed as helpless and dependent. The individual deficit theory viewed the person as in need of treatment and assistance outside regular education. No attempt was made to establish the deficiencies of the system; for example, a person with physical disability using a wheelchair required a ramp to gain access to a mainstream school, which was not provided for by the system. Access to education was prevented as a result of barriers, which reflect a deficient system and not a deficient person.

This medical discourse model was also the beginning of the profes- sionalization, and consequently the mystification, of special education in South Africa for regular education teachers. Fulcher (1989) is appropri- ate here in her comments about the medical discourse:

it professionalizes disability: the notion of medical expertise allows the claims that this

(technical) and personal trouble is a matter for professional judgment. (p. 28)

Following this prevailing belief, regular education teachers were led to believe that it was beyond their level of expertise to teach learners who were classed as disabled and these students must be educated by specialists. Unfortunately, such beliefs perpetuated the idea that students with disabil- ities must be excluded from regular education thus making inclusive education not possible. This idea, according to Fulcher’s (1989), led to the proliferation of educational psychology and related disciplines practice, namely, a

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medical discourse, through its language of body, patient, help, need, cure, rehabilita-

tion, and its politics that the doctor knows best, excludes a consumer discourse or lan-

guage of rights, wants and integration in mainstream social practices. (p. 28)

Therefore, the depoliticizing, individualizing and professionalizing of disabilities led to the notion that learners who were viewed as disabled had to be taught in special schools and/or classes, while their rights were ignored. Parents of learners were intimidated by the knowledge of professionals and therefore did not challenge the decisions concerning placement.

PHASE THREE: ‘SEPARATE DEVELOPMENT’

AND ITS IMPACT ON SPECIAL EDUCATION

AND EDUCATION SUPPORT SERVICES

(1963�1994) Stage One: Institutional Apartheid and Disparate Service Provision

for the Four Race Groups

The year 1948 ushered in the introduction of institutional apartheid into every facet of South African life. The National Party’s policy of separate development ensured apartheid by dividing students into four groups, namely, ‘Africans’, ‘coloureds’, ‘Indians’ and ‘whites’. This had significant implications for special education and education support services. Whilst the concept of education support services (known traditionally as psycholo- gical services, or auxiliary services) evolved only at a much later stage (1992) in South African education, it must be noted that the initial precur- sor was the introduction of the psychological services that were initia- ted after the above introduction of separate development. The School Psychological and Guidance Services of South Africa’s Department of Education in the Transvaal, after the promulgation of Act No. 39 of 1967 for ‘whites’, saw, the clinics established and staffed by clinical psycholo- gists, vocational guidance psychologists, orthodidacticians, speech thera- pists, sociopedagogic psychologists and occupational therapists (Behr, 1980). These clinics which were staffed by multi-disciplinary professionals proved to be a workable model and paved the way for special education support services several decades later (National Education Policy Investigation, 1992).

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Stage Two: Segregated Education Departments Take Control of Special Education and Education Support

Services Provision

Education, as one of the pillars of separate development, was used as an instrument to ensure that all four groups accepted the idea of that policy. The passing of the Coloured Persons Education, Bantu Education and Indian Education Acts, in 1963, 1964 and 1965 respectively, saw special education and education support services being taken over by the various departments. Unfortunately, the disparities in special education and educa- tion support provision were clearly racial and became very visible with the unfolding of separate development. Table 2 illustrates these disparities (Behr, 1980).

Behr (1980) reported that ‘Whites’ made up 17.5%, ‘Africans’ 70.2%, ‘Coloureds’ 9.4% and ‘Indians’ 2.9% of the population. Table 2 shows clearly that special education provision favoured ‘whites’. The provision problem with regard to bias towards ‘whites’ was actually worse than it appeared since churches and private associations and societies had initiated the development of ‘non-white’ special schools while special education for whites had been provided mainly by the State.

In psychological services (a precursor of today’s special education support services) there were major discrepancies on racial lines. For exam- ple, in the Transvaal, under the wing of the School Psychological and Guidance Services, an elaborate system of child guidance clinics was

Table 2. Provision and Schools for the Different Types of Disability.

Disability White African Coloured Indian

Aural 5 schools 7 2 1

Visual 2 schools 4 1 1

Cerebral palsy 4 schools 3 1 1

Physically disabled 4 schools None

Epilepsy 3 schools None 1 None

Autism 2 schools None None None

Mental retardation 41 centres None None 3

Industry/reform 3 None 5 1

Remedial Provision

exists

None None Provision

exists

Educable mental

retardation

Provision

exists

None Provision

exists

Provision

exists

Source: Behr (1980).

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established for each of the 24 inspection circuits. In this system, a clinic served a group of schools. A multi-disciplinary team carried out intel- lectual, scholastic, and emotional assessments of pupils, and provided help in the form of psychotherapy, pelotherapy and speech therapy. In addition, clinics were concerned with identifying and guiding children with learning deficits, cultural deprivation and behavioural problems. Other pro- vinces had similar services, but not as elaborate as the Transvaal’s (Behr, 1980).

While the Department of Bantu Education did establish a section with psychological services, it was restricted to assessing all pupils in Form I and Form III (Form 1 is grade 6 and Form III is Grade 10) to help tea- chers and lecturers assess their teaching. Also, psychological services for coloureds were instituted and at least one teacher in each school was con- cerned with guidance. In addition, training was provided for secondary teachers who had taken psychology as part of degree course responsible for guidance. School Psychological Services in Indian Education focused mainly on assessing and placing pupils needing special education (Behr, 1980).

Except for Indian Education, which had several psychologists, an inspector of psychological services and a school guidance office, there was little comparison between the resources of white education and other race groups. This disparity resulted in poor supervision of adaptation classes, remedial education and facilities at special schools where they existed.

Stage Three: The Homeland or Bantustan Phase

In 1968, the South Africa state conferred Territorial Authorities to six ‘Homeland’ government departments, with each having a separate educa- tion department. However, this did not result in any significant changes for African children with special education needs. Furthermore, there was little information on the actual development of special education and education support services in these territories (National Education Policy Investigation, 1992). However, it followed the pattern and trends of the ‘separate development’ phase relating to the number of pupils in special schools as a ratio of total enrolment for the various races: Indians 1:42; whites 1:62; coloureds 1:128; and Africans 1:830 (National Education Policy Investigation, 1992).

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PHASE FOUR: DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NEW

DEMOCRACY; FROM SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION

TO INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

As mentioned earlier, the advent of the democratic government in 1994 saw wide-scale transformation taking hold throughout the country in many aspects including education. This included the unification of 19 education departments into a single Ministry of Education. The unifica- tion was tantamount to a revolution. The disparities and lack of provi- sion for mainly black South Africans clearly reflected the need to conduct intensive research with a view to providing educational service that could benefit all South Africans. It was against this background that the democratic government appointed the National Commission on Special Education Needs and Training (NCSNET), as well as the National Committee on Education Support Services (NCESS), in 1996. While the NCSNET and NCESS were established as separate entities by the Ministry of Education, the two agencies decided to work jointly as a sin- gle group in the light of overlapping functions. This was clearly spelt out in the Department of Education (1997) single report of the NCSNET and NCESS:

In the early stages of the work of the NCSNET and NCESS, it became evident that the

links between these areas were so close that they required a joint investigation. The first

meeting of both bodies was held in mid-November 1996. The NCSNET and NCESS

initially commenced their investigations within separate task groups. By the third meet-

ing in January 1997, it was evident that the investigations overlapped in so many ways

that it was necessary to amalgamate and conduct both consultative and research work

through joint structures and processes. (p. 10)

The work of NCSNET and NCESS lasted for a year (1996�1997), during which these bodies consulted widely with key stakeholders in education. Workshops and public hearings were held in all provinces, since consulta- tion with all interested parties formed part of the terms of reference of the NCSNET and NCESS and was regarded as crucial.

The terms of reference adopted by NCSNET and NCESS had to heed the major proclamations and other policy documents during the period of transformation. For example, the new Constitution of the Republic of South Africa had this to say: ‘Every person shall have the right to basic education and equal access to educational institutions’ (p. 16). The

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Department of Education’s (1996) White Paper on Education and Training was also clear on the question of rights:

It is essential to increase awareness of the importance of ESS (Education Support

Services) in an education and training system which is committed to equal access, non-

discrimination, and redress, and which needs to target those sections of the learning

population which have been most neglected or are most vulnerable. (p. 16)

Further, the White Paper on an Integrated National Disability Strategy, produced by the Disability Desk of the Office of the Deputy State President (1997), offered very clear direction to the NCSNET and NCESS:

An understanding of disability as a human rights and development issue leads to a

recognition and acknowledgement that people with disabilities are equal citizens and

should therefore enjoy equal rights and responsibilities. A human rights and develop-

ment approach to disability focuses on the removal of barriers to equal participation

and the elimination of discrimination based on disability. (p. 10)

In November 1997, in the Department of Education report titled, ‘Quality education for all: Overcoming barriers to learning’, the NCSNET and NCESS recognized the need for all learners to gain access to a single education system and thus be able to participate in everyday mainstream economic and social life. The recommendations of the NCSNET and NCESS were largely phrased in the language of human rights, which dif- fered radically from that of the medical discourse perspective as it moved away from individualizing, professionalizing and depoliticizing disability by stating that:

… Barriers can be located within the learner, within the centre of learning, within the

education system and within the broader social, economic and political context. These

barriers manifest themselves in different ways and only become obvious when learning

breakdown occurs, when learners ‘drop out’ of the system or when the excluded become

visible. Sometimes it is possible to identify permanent barriers in the learner or system,

which can be addressed through enabling mechanisms and processes.

However, barriers may also arise during the learning process and are seen as transitory

in nature. These may require different interventions or strategies to prevent them from

causing learning breakdown or excluding learners from the system. The key to prevent-

ing barriers from occurring is the effective monitoring and meeting of the different

needs among the learner population and within the system as a whole. (Department of

Education, 1997, p. 14)

By identifying the education system and individuals with disabilities as reflecting or experiencing potential barriers to learning, the NCSNET and NCESS had moved away from viewing disability as only an individual loss

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or impairment. Furthermore, NCSNET and NCESS suggested that these barriers could be addressed in a regular school and that regular education teachers needed to be trained to identify and deal with barriers to learning and development. These barriers could include the following: socio- economic factors, attitudes, inflexible curriculum, language and curriculum, inaccessible and unsafe built environments, inadequate support services, lack of enabling and protective legislation and policy, lack of parental recognition and involvement, disability (learning needs not met) and lack of human resource development strategies. In their recommendations, and as part of the principles on which their work was based, the NCSNET and NCESS called for ‘equal access to a single, inclusive education system’ in which:

Appropriate and effective education must be organised in such a way that all learners

have access to a single education system that is responsive to diversity. No learners

should be prevented from participating in this system, regardless of their physical, intel-

lectual, social, emotional, language, or other differences. (Department of Education,

1997, p. 66)

An educational development that preceded the work of the NCSNET and NCESS was the introduction of a general curriculum, namely, the Outcomes-Based Education (OBE). The NCSNET and NCESS recom- mended that a single education curriculum and urged that diverse special education needs be firmly incorporated within the OBE that had already been under way in South Africa. This NCSNET and NCESS argued that OBE had the capacity to deal with diversity as a result of its flexibility and its premise that ‘all students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day in the same way’ (Spady, 1994, p. 9).

EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS (POLICY,

STANDARDS, RESEARCH)

Education White Paper Six on Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System (Department of Education, 2001) suggests a 20-year plan to transform the system from a dual to a single sys- tem of education. The 20 years include short-term, medium-term and long- steps. It must be noted that the previous dispensation also neglected rural education. White Paper Six has both an urban and rural focus. With White Paper 6, the government’s short-term intent was to:

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• Implement a national advocacy and education programme on inclusive education.

• Plan and implement a targeted outreach programme, beginning in Government’s

rural and urban nodes, to mobilise out-of-school children and youth with

disabilities.

• Complete the audit of special schools and implement a programme to improve effi-

ciency and quality.

• Designate, plan and implement the conversion of 30 special schools into resource

centres in 30 districts.

• Designate, plan and implement the conversion of thirty primary schools to full-

service schools in the same 30 districts above.

• Within all other public education institutions, on a progressive basis, the general

orientation and introduction of the inclusion model to management, governing

bodies and professional staff.

• Within primary schooling, on a progressive basis, the establishment of systems and

procedures for the early identification and addressing of barriers to learning in the

Foundation Phase (Grades R-3). (Department of Education, 2001, p. 42)

Therefore, White Paper Six introduced a three tier inclusive education system which includes Full-Service Schools, District-Based Support Teams and Special Schools as Resource Centres. These three systems are described below.

Full-service/inclusive Schools, further and higher education institutions are first and foremost mainstream education institutions that provide qual- ity education to all learners by supplying the full range of learning needs in an equitable manner (Department of Education, 2010). A full-service school would be equipped and supported to provide for a greater range of learning needs. As learning needs and barriers to learning arise within a specific context and vary from time to time, it is obvious that full-service schools should be supported to develop their capacity and potential for addressing and reducing barriers to learning, as well as seeing their educa- tional provision in a flexible manner. Following this thinking, a full-service school may, but not necessarily need to have all possible imaginable sup- port to learners in place but it would have the potential and capacity to act in such a way that a support needed for a learner could be provided.

The guidelines for District-based Support Teams refer to integrated pro- fessional support services at the district level. Support providers employed by the Department of Education will draw on the expertise from local edu- cation institutions and various community resources. Their key function is to assist education institutions (including early childhood centres, schools, further education colleges and adult learning centres) to identify and address barriers to learning and promote effective teaching and learning. This includes both classroom and organizational support, providing specia- lized learner and educator support, as well as curricular and institutional

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development (including management and governance), and administrative support (Department of Education, 2005).

It is believed that the key to reducing barriers to learning within all edu- cation and training lies in a strengthened education support service. This strengthened education support service will have, at its centre, new district- based support teams that will comprise staff from provincial, district, regio- nal and head offices and from special schools. The primary function of these district-based support teams will be to evaluate programmes, diag- nose their effectiveness and suggest modifications. Through supporting teaching, learning and management, they will build the capacity of schools, early childhood and adult basic education and training centres, colleges and higher education institutions to recognize and address severe learning difficulties and to accommodate a range of learning needs.

Special Schools as Resource Centres imply the qualitative improvement of special schools for the learners that they serve and their phased conver- sion to special school resource centres that provide professional support to neighbouring schools and are integrated into district-based support teams (Department of Education, 2007). According to the White Paper Six, in an inclusive education and training system a wider spread of educational ser- vices will be provided according to the learners’ needs. The priorities and goals of special schools will include orientation to new roles within the dis- trict support teams which include support to neighbouring schools and full- service schools. The new approach should focus on problem solving skills and the development of learners’ strengths and competencies rather than focusing on their shortcomings and disabilities only. The special school as resource centre should be integrated into the district support team to pro- vide support to full-service schools and ordinary schools in that district. The District Support Team should be the overseer of support required by learners within the district.

The intention here is to ensure that there is sufficient human resource development so that teachers are well equipped to deal with diversity. Further, through physical resource/material resource development, schools will be made accessible. District Support Teams, which comprise curricu- lum specialists, psychologists, early childhood education specialists and related personnel, will also undergo training in the area of inclusive educa- tion. The purpose of identifying a relatively small number of schools is to ensure that there is rigorous development and research that is able to estab- lish the strengths and weaknesses of the plan. Ultimately, Full-Service schools (ordinary primary school) will be converted into a school, which caters for difference. Special Schools within this plan should have more of

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an outreach role to assist and support, together with the District Support Team, the Full-Service School and the Ordinary School. Advocacy focus- ing on inclusive education will be conducted within the 30 districts, as well as system-wide, to ensure that there are sufficient common understandings about government’s plans. It is envisaged that this process will lead to the following outcomes:

• Costing of an ideal district support team.

• Cost of conversion of special schools to special schools/resource centres.

• Costing of an ideal full-service school.

• Costing of a ‘full service’ technical college.

• Determining the minimum levels of provision for learners with special needs for all

higher education institutions.

• Devising a personnel plan.

• Costing non-personnel expenditure requirements. (Department of Education, 2001,

p. 44)

According to White Paper Six, the completion of the short-term steps should take three years. Once the research has been completed and the find- ings known, the medium steps should involve more schools, further educa- tion and training and higher education institutions, depending on available resources.

The notion of inclusive education, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, is shaped directly by the recommendations of the NCSNET and NCESS. Therefore, the focus is not merely on disability but rather on all vulnerable children, including over-age learners, children in prison, learners who experience language barriers, or barriers such as the attitudes of others, lack of parental recognition and poverty. The transformational goals men- tioned at the beginning of this chapter becomes very relevant to inclusive education where the emphasis is on creating access and skewing funding so that it is pro poor.

What emerges clearly from the government’s inclusive education inten- tion is that the system is being geared towards creating possibilities for the first time in the history of South Africa, pedagogy of possibility, not only in terms of race but ability, interest, intelligence and styles. Whilst the intentions are very clear, several challenges face policy implementers within the South African context.

Learners will follow programmes and receive support based on the level of support they require. The Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support strategy specifically aims to identify (1) the barriers to learning experienced, (2) the support needs that arise from barriers experienced and

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(3) the support programme that needs to be in place to address the impact of the barrier on the learning process.

The nature of support programmes that will be addressed within the SIAS strategy covers the following areas:

• Vision; • Hearing; • Mobility; • Communication; • Learning/Cognition; • Health (including Mental Health); • Behaviour and social skills; • Multiple and Complex Learning Support.

The provisioning drivers for the support programmes are:

(1) curriculum and assessment adjustments; (2) training requirements; (3) availability of specialized staff; (4) specialized LTSM /assistive devices and other resources to ensure

access to education.

The strategy rates the level of the identified support that is required as a low, moderate or high level of provision. The organizers that guide this rat- ing process include the frequency, scope, availability and cost of the addi- tional support service, programme or specialized learning and teaching support material. The support provisions that are rated low cover all the support provisions in all departmental programme policies, line budgets and norms and standards for public schools. Support provisions that are rated moderate cover support provisions that are over and above provi- sions covered by programme policies, line budgets and norms and stan- dards for public schools. Such provisions are provided once-off or for a short-term period or on a loan system. Implementation of such provisions can generally be accommodated within the school or regular classroom. Support provisions that are rated high are over and above provisions cov- ered by programme policies, line budgets and norms and standards for public schools support. These provisions are specialized, requiring specialist classroom/school organization, facilities and personnel. A resource package and guidelines concerning the use of technology is currently being devel- oped by the Department of Basic Education.

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PREVALENCE AND INCIDENT ASPECTS

The issue of prevalence and incidence has always been a controversial issue in South Africa. For example, the 2010 national household survey esti- mates that 6.3% of people older than five years in South Africa have some form of disability. This might be an underestimation as the World Health Organization’s 2011 World Report on Disability placed the global disa- bility population at about 15%. Therefore, there is little consensus on issues of prevalence and incidence. However, when the Department of Education’s White Paper Six was developed, disability in the schooling sys- tem utilized the World Health Organization data. It was estimated between 2.2% and 2.6% of learners in any school system could be identified as dis- abled or impaired. This meant that about 400,000 of South African chil- dren had disabilities or impairments. When White Paper Six was written only 64,200 children were accommodated by the schooling system. Since then, considerable progress with regards to building of special schools has been achieved.

The data collected in Census 2001 indicates that there were 2,255,982 people with various forms of disability. This number constituted 5% of the total population enumerated in this census. Of this number, 1,854,376 were African, 168,678 were coloured, 41,235 were Indian/Asian, and 191,693 were white. The number of females affected was 1,173,939, compared to 1,082,043 males.

The provincial prevalence levels show that the most affected province was Free State with a prevalence of 6.8% and the least affected province was Gauteng (3.8%). The prevalence increased by age from 2% in the age group 0�9 years to 27% in the age group 80 years and above. Those who had post- secondary education had the lowest prevalence (3%) compared to those who had no schooling (10.5%). Lastly those with primary level and secondary level of education had prevalence of 5.2% and 3.9%, respectively.

The prevalence of sight disability was the highest (32%) followed by physical disability (30%), hearing (20%), emotional disability (16%), intel- lectual disability (12%) and communication disability (7%). A comparison of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of disabled and non-disabled persons shows that disabled persons were on average older. About 30% of disabled people had no education while only 13% of the non-disabled population fell in this category. However, the most affected population group in this regard were African (Census, Government of South Africa, 2001, p. 2).

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TRENDS IN LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION

At this time, national legislation concerning entry and exit to special schools do not exist. The countries nine provinces accept children at the age of 3 years and the exit age is 21 years. Provinces will have to indicate what provision is made once children leave at the age of 21 years.

In revising policies, legislation and frameworks, the Ministry of Education promised in White Paper Six to give particular, but not exclu- sive, attention to those that relate to the school and college systems. Policies, legislation and frameworks for the school and college systems were required to provide the basis for overcoming the causes and effects of barriers to learning. Specifically, White Paper Six promised admission poli- cies will be revised so that learners who can be accommodated outside of special schools and specialized settings can be schooled within designated full-service or other schools and settings (Department of Education, 2001).

At this time, there are no national laws concerning placement of learners with regard to age and related matters. The government indicates that pro- vincial authorities should create placement options based on broad guide- lines. Regarding admission, the South African Schools Act (Act 79 of 1996) through section 5 makes provision for all schools to be full-service schools by stating that: public schools must admit learners and serve their educational requirements without unfairly discriminating in any way; gov- erning bodies of a public school may not administer any test related to the admission of a learner to a public school; and in determining the placement of a learner with special education needs, the Head of Department and principal must take into account the rights and wishes of the parents and of such learner while taking into account what will be in the best interest of the learner in any decision-making process (Department of Education, 2010).

The government specifies that The Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) Strategy (SIAS) should be used to maximize learners’ participation in schools and classrooms. The aim of introducing the SIAS strategy in the education system is to overhaul the process of identifying, assessing and providing programmes for all learners requiring additional support so as to enhance participation and inclusion. One of the key objec- tives of the strategy is to provide clear guidelines on enroling learners in special schools and settings which also acknowledge the central role played by parents and educators. In essence these guidelines provide a strategic policy framework for screening, identifying, assessing and supporting all

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learners who experience barriers to learning and development within the education system, including those who are currently enroled in special schools.

Reasonable accommodation of individuals’ requirements should be made. This can in turn be realized by making provision for individualized support measures that could include facilitating the learning of Braille, using alternative script, communicating through augmentative and alterna- tive modes, means and formats of communication, the introduction of orientation and mobility skills, and facilitating peer support and mentoring, facilitating the learning of sign language and the promotion of the linguistic identity of the Deaf community (Department of Education, 2010).

Until now only two major cases were disputing the service provision regarding learners who are disabled. The first one involved a claim against the state regarding South African Sign Language (SASL). A learner claimed that by not offering SASL as a school subject, the Department of Education is acting in contradiction to the constitution of the country. A matric Grade 12 student, Kyle Springate, took the Department of Education to court in his quest to have sign language recognized as an exam subject. Springate discovered in 2009 that, despite having taken sign language as a subject throughout high school, sign language would not form part of his matric exam. He appealed for sign language to be recog- nized as an additional language, believing that it formed part of the school curriculum. Springate discovered that sign language was not a recognized subject, which meant that he faced losing points in his university applica- tion. This student ended up taking dramatic art as an extra subject and had to study three years of work for his final school year at Westville Boys’ High School in Durban. Kyle’s mother, Paige McLennan-Smith, said that this turn of events had placed her son at a disadvantage. Kyle’s mother argued that her son was exhausted after a normal day at school ‘as a result of lip-reading’, which required him to concentrate all the time during the school day. With the burden of taking dramatic arts as a subject, he was even more exhausted after a day at school. Paige argued that ‘If Kyle fails dramatic arts and his application to the university is assessed on the basis of only six subjects, he stands little chance of being accepted’. Springate hoped to study fine art at Rhodes University.

In the court papers filed at the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg, the Department of Basic Education said that there had not yet been any consensus among organizations representing the deaf about the exact definition or components of sign language, and that this had resulted in a delay in the process of formally recognizing sign language

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as a subject. The court requested that the Department of Education offer sign language as a subject in view of the challenges posed to learners. Since this court case, the Department of Education has taken steps to introduce SASL as a subject (Legal Resources Centre, 2009).

The second court case (High Court of South Africa, 2010, Case No: 18678/2007-Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability vs. Government of the Republic of South Africa) involved a right to education of children with severe intellectual disability. In November 2010, the Western Cape Forum for intellectual disability challenged the state in the high court with concerns for the rights of the children with profound and severe cognitive deficits. They argued that the: (i) the state establishes and funds schools which include schools known as ‘special schools’ which cater for the needs of children who are classified as having moderate to mild intellectual disabilities (IQ levels of 30�70); (ii) children with an IQ of under 35 are considered to be severely (IQ levels of 20�35) or profoundly (IQ levels of less than 20) intellectually disabled and as such children are not admitted to special schools or to any other state schools; and (iii) the state makes no provision for the education of children with severe or pro- found intellectual disabilities (the affected children) nor does It also does it provide schools in the Western Cape for such children.

The High Court decided that the State has failed to take reasonable measures to make provision for the educational needs of children with severe and profound intellectually disabilities children in the Western Cape, thus being in breach of the rights of those children to basic education, pro- tection from neglect or degradation, equality and, human dignity. The State was instructed to take reasonable steps and interim measures in order to address the above challenges experienced by the children.

WORKING WITH FAMILIES

South African parents, teachers and learners are important partners in attempting to improve performance of learners. However, the social por- trait even in the second richest province, namely, Western Cape, suggests that many parents do not have the requisite levels of education. Quite clearly there is a relationship between parent’s education and their commit- ment to socializing children into education. This of course is a universal experience. Departments of Education have played a role in advocacy regarding the involvement of parents by maintaining close links with a

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number of parent organizations. Parent organizations as well as school governing body organizations have also been involved in the development of policy regarding White Paper Six. Regular meetings have been held between the Department of Education and school governing bodies and parent organizations at both the national and provincial level. These orga- nization include, Disabled Children’s Action Group (DICAG) South Africa, Downs Syndrome Association of South Africa, South African National Organization for the Deaf, Special Education Parent Teacher Organization, Disabled People South Africa (DPSA) and, South African National School Governing Body Association.

Of all the above-mentioned groups, DICAG was one of the most power- ful and influential. Their representatives sat on almost all major transfor- mation committees when White Paper Six was developed. DICAG was established in 1993 by the parents of children with disabilities. Their main aim is to empower themselves to educate children in an inclusive environ- ment to ensure equal opportunities for children with disabilities.

DICAG was initially affiliated to Disabled People South Africa (DPSA), the national disabled people’s umbrella organization before it became an independent organization. It has 311 support centres, 15,000 parent mem- bers and 10,000 children actively involved. DICAG has served as a cam- paigning organization to help raise the level of awareness of disability as well as challenge stereotypes and perceptions of people with disabilities in South Africa.

The issue of cultural capital and education is an issue that favours middle-class families that are in the minority in South Africa. Working class families do not have the cultural capital and therefore are unable to empower their children. Many working class parents do not attach value to education since education has not helped them. They do not see the value in education based on their experiences.

In South Africa, there are many non-governmental organizations that worked with families during the apartheid era. Many of these organizations that survived financially are helping parents and families. In the disability sector, there are many parent empowerment groupings that rely on one another for support. Typically, these groups consist of parents who have children who have a particular category of disability, for example, the Downs Syndrome Organization, which comprises parents of Downs Syndrome Children. Other disability categories of children have similar organizations. These organizations are composed of mainly middle-class parents who fell into the white race group. With the transitions towards inclusive education, many black parents have joined these groupings. This

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is the most dominant grouping of family support but the existence of these grouping in working class areas is minimal. Positively, more and more par- ents are joining these organizations from different classes and races across the country with the movement towards inclusive education in South Africa. Many of these organizations continue to play a very important role in schools and various communities through outreach programmes, confer- ences and other forums. They are an indispensable part of the South African special education scenario with many parents playing particularly active roles. A good example is the role of the Western Cape Inclusive Education Forum. They established a resource centre and other forms of support. Many of these parents have worked in townships and have been extremely helpful to disadvantaged black children. One of the pioneers in this movement was Michelle Belknapp.

An example of a more formal organization is the South African National Council for the Blind. Traditionally, this organization has served mainly white learners but with the transition to a democracy, they serve all children. This movement towards serving all children has been adopted by most other categorical disability organizations.

In more privileged areas, there is a close relationship between the school governing body which includes parents and representatives of the school. Children who attend middle-class schools have a formal network in terms of the school governing body that establishes goals for students with their parents input at individual schools. Whilst this does not happen at a sys- temic level, more progress is being in underprivileged areas. Schools increasingly are required to take children from all backgrounds and parents receive support from schools where the goals of their children are dis- cussed. For example, at the De La Bat School in the Western Cape, parents of 3-year-old children are being involved in the school’s Sign Language programmes. Parents at De La Bat School are made aware of the possibili- ties for their child’ learning and teaching. School personnel report that the parents play a constructive role in the lives of their children and get exposed to Sign Language once their children are admitted in school. Hopefully over the next decade, South African special school administra- tors will make a major systemic effort to replicate the successful parental involvement example from De La Bat School.

There are no formal transitional living and vocational training pro- grammes that are provided in South Africa schools. However, many par- ents of children with disabilities get involved in this area. For example, national organizations such as the Downs Syndrome Association create awareness and opportunities for children to obtain employment. While

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such organizations can be helpful in this area, much work has to be done in the public schools.

TEACHERS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION (ROLES,

EXPECTATIONS, TRAINING)

Teacher training requirements in South Africa require teachers to hold a 4-year teaching degree or a 3-year degree and a higher education teaching diploma. Special Education/Inclusive Education is part of the teacher train- ing packages. Specialist training in areas of disability is lacking in South Africa with very few specialized training programmes on offer. Universities are currently working with the Department of Basic Education working on these programmes.

Teaching practice at schools is mandatory at universities and each stu- dent has to complete teaching practice for a specific period of time. This is normally a six-week period. At this time there, is a huge teaching shortage in South Africa regarding various categories of disabilities. However, this shortage in particular areas was acknowledged by White Paper Six. This also includes South African Sign Language (SASL) teachers and teachers of the visually impaired. Steps have been taken to ameliorate the challenge but it will take a significant period of time to address the backlogs. In view of White Paper Six and related White Papers, the government is playing a major role in creating the conditions for quality teacher education. Bursaries are provided for all teachers provided they commit themselves to teaching for a period of time. The bursaries are generous and cover the four-year study programme.

When White Paper Six was developed, it was envisaged that teacher edu- cation should be a priority. White Paper Six articulated the vision that classroom educators will be the primary resource for achieving the goal of an inclusive education and training system. The main thrust of the plan was to ensure that educators will need to improve their skills and knowl- edge, and develop new ones. Staff development at the school and district level was regarded as critical to putting in place successful integrated educa- tional practices. White Paper Six had the following foci:

• In mainstream education, priorities will include multi-level classroom instruction so that educators can prepare main lessons with variations that are responsive to individual learner needs; co-operative learning;

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curriculum enrichment; and dealing with learners with behavioural problems.

• In special schools/resource centres, priorities will include orientation to new roles within district support services of support to neighbourhood schools, and new approaches that focus on problem solving and the development of learners’ strengths and competencies rather than focus- ing on their shortcomings only.

Along with the above foci, the Ministry of Education has been training teachers within the framework of the OBE curriculum. Also, there has been an emphasis on diversity by the Department of Education. For example, in his forward to the teacher’s curriculum guide, South Africa’s Director- General of Education, Mr. Thami Mseleku, has clearly expressed a focus on diversity. In the curriculum guide, he states ‘These guidelines are geared to assist teachers in accommodating Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards that are prescribed, yet create space and possibilities for the use of judgments and insights based on particular contexts and a diverse learn- ing population’ (Department of Education, 2003). This curriculum docu- ment further states:

The guidelines are intended to be implemented in conjunction with other policies, for

example, the White Paper Six: Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive

Education and Training System needs to be read to provide background information

on issues related to barriers to learning, as these have crucial impact of what happens in

the classroom. (Department of Education, 2003, p. 1)

Positively, inclusive education has been on the teacher education agenda in most of the teacher training forums across the country for the last 10 years. A dedicated section on inclusion has been a key feature in all training and orientation session relating to the South African school curriculum.

Government provides support for teachers and at this time in view of the Year of Inclusion links are being fostered with South Africa’s major universities to train prospective teachers in specific disabilities. For exam- ple, an agreement has been concluded with South Africa’s largest univer- sity, University of South Africa, for teachers to be trained to teach the visually impaired. South African Sign Language and other areas are being looked at. During the apartheid era, many teachers who taught in black schools did not have specialist qualifications in specific disabilities. Of course universities were segregated and provision was made for white teachers.

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Student teaching, practicums and internships are being made available to teachers at various universities and inclusive education is receiving a lot of attention. Teachers are certified with four-year degree programmes which include practicums and teacher training at school sites. Bursaries will be offered to teachers as part of the National Bursary Scheme if current negotiations come to fruition.

Teacher Development Priorities in Inclusive Education include the following:

Focus 1: Training all teachers on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) and Curriculum Differentiation � CAPS training and one per school (2012�2014).

Focus 2: Improving specialized skills � visual impairment, deaf and hard of hearing, autism, intellectual disability, communication disorders, cerebral palsy � short courses and bursaries for Higher Education Institutions accredited courses (2012�2014).

Focus 3: District support teams � effective management of special schools, full-service schools and supporting implementation of inclusion at all levels (guidelines training) (2012).

PERSPECTIVE ON THE PROGRESS OF SPECIAL

EDUCATION

In assessing the progress of the Department of Education’s White Paper Six, a number of factors have to be considered. South Africa became a democracy about 18 years ago and merged 19 separate ethic and provincial departments into one unitary system of education. New appointments were made in the various state departments and there was a total transformation in terms of demographics, leadership and policy.

Whilst inclusive education was embraced as an ideology and practice by a large majority of South Africans, there remain several challenges. Many people who embraced inclusive education were the marginalized, black people, progressive white people and those that saw merit in the concept based on educational thinking. However, the inclusive system had to be implemented in an education system that did not have a sound and devel- oped practices in the majority of schools that previously were characterized as disadvantaged. Another challenge related to the fact that the expertise in the field were in the hands of people who promoted special education. The majority of the structures and organizations in the field of special education

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were led by people who promoted special education. The transformation of knowledge and organizations was a huge stumbling block in terms of advancing inclusive education. Paradigmatic change is a difficult concept. However, to advance paradigmatic change in an environment where peo- ple’s views were so entrenched in the opposing discourse is a gargantuan task.

Within this context seven white papers were developed and implemen- ted. Table 3 provides the foci of the different White Papers.

In South Africa’s relatively new democracy, there has been a major com- mitment in principle to special education or inclusive education. Many South Africans who came into power in the new democracy developed a demonstrated passion and commitment to inclusive education as a major part component to change the system. This passion emerges from the fact that substantial numbers of South Africans operated in the margins and cracks of Apartheid society.

The context into which White Paper Six was implemented differed but presented a range of challenges. A closer look at the education profile within the province of the Western Cape, the second richest province, pro- vides some sense of the challenges facing policy implementation. According to the Human Capital Strategy developed by the provincial education department, only 23.4% of the population complete grade 12 (final school year), 36.5% drop out during the secondary school phase, only 7.9% com- plete primary education, 15.2% drop out during the primary phase and 5.7% of the population have no schooling. Looking at this across racial divides, it is evident that enrolment and completion of school to the age of 17 years is highest amongst the whites (at 100%), with the enrolment and completion is significantly lower amongst the African population, and still lower amongst Coloured adolescents. For those who are at school

Table 3. Foci of South Africa’s Department of Education White Papers.

White Paper Foci

White Paper 1 First White Paper of the Democratic Era that lays the framework for

education and training in South Africa

White Paper 2 Organization, Funding and Governance of Schools

White Paper 3 Transformation of Higher Education

White Paper 4 Further Education and Training Colleges

White Paper 5 Early Childhood Education

White Paper 6 Inclusive Education

White Paper 7 e-Learning

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currently, only 37% of learners at grade 3 level are achieving grade- appropriate literacy and numeracy levels while at grade 6 level, numeracy performance drops to 15%, and literacy performance to 35%. These statis- tics are very problematic especially considering that the Western Cape’s education department receives 38.1% of the provincial budget (Western Cape Education Department, 2007). It is evident that these children are not receiving a high quality education in spite of the ample funding that occurs.

It is quite logical given South Africa’s history to conclude that the poor- est children are black. It is also logical conclude that black poor children are the ones that experience the least success in the education system. After 15 years of funding education on a pro-poor basis with the emphasis on equity, it seems there is much more work to do if inclusion has to become a reality. The challenge is to break the cycle of failure and poverty using edu- cation as a point of departure. The high dropout rate and the low pass rates in literacy and numeracy suggests a relationship between parents level of education referred to above and school results.

In the light of the above discussion, it becomes obvious that one of the main interventions of White Paper Six was to introduce the notion of bar- riers to learning and the introduction of systemic issues instead of focussing mainly on individual deficits as the only challenge of special needs educa- tion. Many learners experience barriers to learning or drop out primarily because of the inability of the system to recognize and accommodate the diverse range of learning needs typically through inaccessible physical plants, curricula that is geared for general education students, ineffective assessment, insufficient learning materials and ineffective instructional methodologies. The approach advocated in White Paper Six is fundamen- tally different from traditional ones that assume that barriers to learning reside primarily within the learner and accordingly, learner support should take the form of a specialist, typically medical interventions (Department of Education, 2001, p. 60). The notion that performance could be affected not only by individual weaknesses but systemic weaknesses was introduced by White Paper Six. This shift in thinking could be characterized as fol- lows. Different learning needs may also arise because of:

• Negative attitudes to and stereotyping of difference.

• An inflexible curriculum.

• Inappropriate languages or language of learning and teaching.

• Inappropriate communication.

• Inaccessible and unsafe built environments.

• Inappropriate and inadequate support services.

• Inadequate policies and legislation.

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• The non-recognition and non-involvement of parents.

• Inadequately and inappropriately trained education managers and educators.

(Department of Education, 2001, p. 60)

In the long term, understanding the above weaknesses to effective learn- ing and systemic challenges may assist educators in addressing challenges facing the South Africa’s education system. Positively, after a decade, the educational policy process and understandings are taking hold. Further, current performance suggests that South Africa has to consolidate and entrench the insights generated by White Paper Six.

South Africa has many challenges and there is a considerable amount of work that is yet to be done. However, a 2012 Department of Basic Education (previously Department of Education) report indicated that the following has been achieved with regarding to implementing White Paper Six:

• Piloted the implementation of White Paper Six through a Field Test in 30 districts, 30 special schools and 30 designated full-service schools;

• Developed the screening, identification, assessment and support (SIAS) strategy for early identification of learning difficulties and support;

• Developed Inclusive Learning Programmes to guide the system on how to deal with disabilities in the classroom;

• Developed Funding Principles to guide provinces on how to fund the implementation of White Paper Six as an interim measure;

• Submitted two funding bids to Treasury for the Expansion of Inclusive Education Programme from which R1.5bn was allocated for 2008 and R300m for 2009 on Equitable Share basis;

• Converted 10 ordinary schools to full-service schools; • Incorporated inclusivity principles in all curriculum training; • Trained 200 district officials related to educational aspects for students

with visual impairment and hearing impairment; • Developed Guidelines for Responding to Learner Diversity in the

Classroom through the National Curriculum Statement and orientated: 2,474 district officials and grade 10 subject advisors in 2011; 110 stake- holders in 2011; 3,035 district officials and subject advisors for grade 11 in 2012; 163 stakeholders and special schools lead teachers in 2012; and 968 district officials and subject advisors for grades 4�6 in 2012;

• Is developing the South African Sign Language curriculum as subject for grades R-12;

• Has developed a framework for qualifications pathways at NQF level 1 for learners with moderate and severe intellectual disability;

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• Is developing an Action Plan to provide access to education for out-of- school children and youth including those with severe and profound intellectual impairments;

• 98 Special Schools have been converted to Special Schools as Resource Centres;

• 25 New Special Schools have been built; • 225 Full-Service Schools have been created; • District-Based Support Teams have been created across the country.

After a little more than a decade of implementation, it is clear that pro- gress has been achieved; however, the achievement of learners and learning outcomes is not at a desirable level.

CHALLENGES THAT REMAIN

It must be noted that the above pilot study was initially envisaged as a three-year pilot but was concluded within a ten-year period. Whilst govern- ment committed itself to completing the pilot in three years, a number of factors contributed to delaying the implementation. These included pro- vinces not dedicating budgets to advance the pilot, staff turnover in the Department of Basic Education, lack of human resource capacity in the provinces and in general a lack of prioritizing given the number of pressing priorities in the provinces.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) in South Africa committed 2013 to the entrenchment of Inclusive Education thus calling 2013 the year of inclusion. This was a very bold approach by the education authorities. As mentioned earlier, there is much more to do for inclusive education to be successful in South Africa. Whilst progress in the area of inclusive edu- cation is at a theoretical stage, the planning and the beginning steps of White Paper Six has been achieved. It is obvious that more work has to be done in the area of teacher education, human resource development, build- ing and developing full-service schools, support and creating special schools as resource centres and empowering district-based support teams. The following presentation to the education standing committee (Department of Basic Education, 2012) reveals the limitations of the implementation:

• Analysis found glaring disparities in the provision of access to specialist services to schools across provinces and within each in terms of types of the professionals;

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• There is a huge lack of specialist professionals and in three of South Africa’s provinces the availability of specialists is below 0.5%. These provinces are yet to budget for inclusive education. There is a lack of therapists, psychologists, social workers and professional nurses;

• The ratio for teachers without knowledge of South African Sign Language (21.8%) is higher than that for teachers without knowledge of visual impairment (10.9%). Areas of deafness and visual impairment appear to experience major challenges. Although South African Sign Language development has begun, this is one of the most neglected sectors.

The lack of quality and trained staff is a major problem that hinders the further development of Inclusive Education/Special Education in South Africa. Specialists are central to the assessment and identification process. Availability of therapists is also critical for assessment of learners for provision of assistive devices and technology particularly for students with physical disabilities. If the three provinces that have not budgeted for the expansion of Inclusive Education do not occur, White Paper Six will ultimately fail in these provinces. According to the report made by the Department of Basic Education (2012) to the standing committee, visual impairment and deafness are isolated because they are the highly specia- lized compared to other disabilities that largely depend on Curriculum Differentiation. The report also cautioned about appropriate and relevant conversion of ordinary schools to full-service schools. Specifically, the report stressed that a conversion is more than making schools environ- mentally accessible for learners with physical disabilities as there is an accompanying need for an inclusive education ethos. Ultimately, the report calls for provinces to get more involved in the inclusive education process through adequate budgeting, increased advocacy and effective training.

At a general level, it seems that the envisaged White paper Six educa- tional shift in paradigm has been largely underestimated. Paradigm shifts are complex and ambitious projects and poor results in the South African education system suggest that deeper training of teachers should take place to address the challenge of poverty and education. If poor learners and poor achievers are to be advanced in the system, teachers need effective; special education knowledge based instructional tools that will create a dif- ferent consciousness within the school cultural so that inclusive education can flourish.

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CONCLUSION

For a developing country and a relatively young democracy, South Africa has made some bold attempts at moving towards an inclusive education system. The country’s progress in this endeavour is noted but not currently sufficient given the documented learning outcomes of South Africa’s lear- ners in their formative years.

While the 2013 year dedicated to inclusive education has led to advan- cement in achieving White Paper Six goals, it also pointed out the needs to focus on the employment of specialists and support personnel. Psychologists, therapists and related personnel are indispensable to success- ful inclusive education particularly for full-service schools, special schools as resource centres and district-based support teams. The results of academic achievement and advancement in the early grades of schooling suggest that not much progress has been made with regard to the paradigm shifts antici- pated in White Paper Six concerning barriers to learning. Teacher training should focus on content knowledge but also provide teachers with effective instructional and intellectual tools to deal with poverty. The alienation of South African children who experience barriers to learning due to hearing and visual impairments is problematic. This cannot continue as any human rights culture should ensure that learners who are hearing or visually impaired should be at the centre of the inclusive education process.

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Department of Basic Education. (2012). Presentation to standing committee. Pretoria, South

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Department of Education. (1996). White paper on education and training. Pretoria, South

Africa: South Africa Department of Education.

Department of Education. (1997). Quality education for all. Report of the national commission

for special education needs and training and national committee for education support

services. Pretoria, South Africa: South Africa Department of Education.

Department of Education. (2001). Education white paper 6 on special needs education: Building

an inclusive education and training system. Cape Town, South Africa: South Africa

Department of Education.

Department of Education. (2003). Outcomes-based education in South Africa: Background

information for educators. Pretoria, South Africa: South Africa Department of

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Department of Education. (2005). Conceptual and operational guidelines for district based

support teams. Pretoria, South Africa: South Africa Department of Education.

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schools and special school resource centres. Pretoria, South Africa: South Africa

Department of Education.

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South Africa: South Africa Department of Education.

Disability Desk: Office of the Deputy State President. (1997). Integrated national disability

strategy document. Pretoria, South Africa: Office of the Deputy State President.

Fick, M. L. (1939). An individual scale of general intelligence for South Africa. Pretoria, South

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Fulcher, G. (1989). Disabling policies? A comparative approach to education policy and disabil-

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http://www.lrc.org.za/

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SPECIAL EDUCATION TODAY

IN GHANA

Ahmed Bawa Kuyini

ABSTRACT

The Ghana chapter on special education begins with the history of ser- vice provisions for persons with disabilities. It includes information on educational and rehabilitation services, special schools and integrated education. Detailed data is related concerning prevalence and incidence rates and special needs among the Ghana population. This is followed by a comprehensive section on regular and special education teacher roles, expectations, and training. An important aspect of Ghana’s spe- cial education is its movement towards inclusive education. The support for this movement comes from the Ministry of Education’s policy, namely, The Education Strategic Plan (ESP), which adopts inclusive education and promotes it as the future special education direction for the country. The chapter provides detailed information on the issues related to the implementation of the ESP plan, four models that have been developed for inclusive education, the progress and effort that Ghana has made towards inclusive education as well as significant chal- lenges that are present.

Special Education International Perspectives: Practices Across the Globe

Advances in Special Education, Volume 28, 431�469 Copyright r 2014 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 0270-4013/doi:10.1108/S0270-401320140000028021

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S0270-401320140000028021

INTRODUCTION

Ghana is a country with a population of 25 million people. It is located in West Africa and has borders Cote D’Ivoire, Burkina, and Togo. Ghana has many natural resources that include major sea ports on the Atlantic Ocean, fertile land, and reserves of oil, gold, and bauxite. Also, it has a young popu- lation and its people are among the best educated in the world. The popula- tion of Ghana is very diverse and includes more than 50 different ethnic groups. The country was given its independence from in 1957. Special educa- tional in Ghana is mainly a public sector endeavour with the Government establishing and running the majority of schools. However, the private sec- tor, including religious and non-religious organizations has been an integral part of the historical development and current provision of special educa- tion. From a humble and unknown component of the education system at independence in 1957, special educational provision has now expanded and has a presence in all aspects of educational considerations in Ghana.

ORIGINS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN GHANA

History of Service Provision for Persons with Disabilities

Historically, services for people with disabilities began with the Christian missionaries such as the Wesley and Basel missionaries who made special provisions in schools for children and adults with hearing and visual Impairment in the early part of the 20th century. Some missionaries set up limited forms of rehabilitation services. However, broad service provision involving the government of Ghana began after the Second World War.

Rehabilitation Services Formal recognition for the need to develop services for persons with disabilities in the newly independent Ghana began with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s motion in parliament on the plight of persons with disabilities. This motion culminated in the setting up of the John Wilson committee in 1959, which was to examine the needs of the disabled and to make recommendations to the Government (Walker, Marfo, & Charles, 1986). The committee among others recommended the establishment of eight rural rehabilitation units across the country (Korsah, 1983). Following the committee’s report, the Government provided these rehabilitation

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institutions through the Department of Social Welfare starting in the middle of 1961. By 1970, there was at least one rehabilitation centre in each region of Ghana (Walker et al., 1986), providing services mainly to the blind, deaf and physically disabled. Thus, Ghana like many developing countries employed the Institution-based rehabilitation approach; in which the bulk of the cost is borne by Government.

Educational Services The Government’s participation in educational provision for persons with disabilities was minimal before Ghana’s independence in 1957. Under the British Colonial Government, all attempts at providing educational services to children with disabilities were undertaken by Christian missionaries. The missionaries established and ran schools specifically for blind children, and only in 1945 did the colonial government take on some of the responsibility for providing these services (Avoke, 2001). After independence and follow- ing the recommendations of the parliamentary committee on the plight of the persons with disabilities, some provisions were made in the Education Act of 1961 (Government of Ghana, 1961) to provide for the needs of per- sons with disabilities. The Education Act of 1961 stated among other things that every child who had attained the going school age as determined by the Minister of Education was to attend a course of instruction as specified by the MoE in a school recognized for that purpose (Government of Ghana, 1961). In essence, the provisions of the Education Act of 1961 laid the foundation for a free compulsory education for all children in Ghana. The Act thus gave recognition to the right to education for all children with disabilities in Ghana and resulted in the establishment of schools for children with disabilities. Successive Governments from the 1960s con- tinued with the pre-independence approach to educational provision, such that residential special schools remained the main form of schooling for children with disabilities in Ghana, even into the 1990s.

Special Schools The MoE set up a number of special schools for different categories of dis- abilities from the 1960s. Two schools for the blind were established at Akropong and Wa and followed by the opening of schools for persons with hearing impairment across the regions of Ghana in 1962. The Society of Friends of the Mentally Impaired started a school for children with intellec- tual disability, namely, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital in 1968 (Avoke, 2001; Ofori-Addo, Worgbeyi, & Tay, 1999). Between 1970 and 1980 many more segregated ‘special schools’ were established for the ‘visually impaired’,

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the ‘hearing impaired’, and the ‘intellectually disabled’. Increasing national recognition of the need for additional education services led to the forma- tion of the Special Education Division (SED) within the Ghana Education Service (GES) in 1985.

At the threshold of the inclusion initiative in 1992, there were two basic schools for students with visual impairments in Akropong and Wa. Additionally, resource centres were established in three primary schools (Avoke, 2001; MoE, 1996). There were four public and two private schools for students with intellectual disabilities. For students with hear- ing impairment, there were eleven schools for primary education and one for secondary education (a demonstration secondary school) was located at Mampong�Akwapim. Students with learning disabilities were educated in five primary schools. There were also four primary schools connected to hospitals. Two of such schools were connected to teaching hospitals, and the other two were connected to local hospitals for children receiving orthopaedic services. Most students with moving difficulties attended reg- ular schools in their local communities, and this arrangement represented some kind of informal integration (Avoke, 2001; MoE, 1996).

Integrated Education In the late 1970s, formal attempts were made to integrate children with visual impairments into the regular education system. In 1975, resource centres were established in two secondary schools, and units for hearing impaired education opened in two regular schools at Kibi and Koforidua. In addition, a teachers’ training college was established to train teachers with the capacity to support students in integrated settings. In spite of the good underlying intentions, the experimental integrated education pro- grammes were not sustainable because of the lack of clear policy, and resources, both human and material. As a consequence, the unit for the hearing impaired eventually operated like other special schools, with quali- fied teachers of the hearing impaired providing classroom instruction. Furthermore complicating this situation at education integration was the fact that higher educational opportunities were limited for students with visual impairments such that only a few students were offered places in tea- cher training colleges such as The University of Ghana and The University of Cape Coast (MoE, 1996; Ofori-Addo et al., 1999).

Limitations of the Rehabilitation Service and Special School Systems in Ghana By the 1980s, the general rise in the cost of managing both institutional rehabilitation centres and special schools had become a strong issue of

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concern. This situation arose because, not only was the cost of running the institutions high, but also services were meeting the needs of only about 2% of the disabled population (Ofori-Addo, 1994; O’Toole, Hofslett, Bupuru, Ofori-Addo, & Kotoku, 1996). This situation reflected the general trend in many developing countries, including: Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Nigeria, Zambia, Pakistan, Philippines and Jamaica. The inadequacies of the institution-based rehabilitation as echoed in these developing countries exposed a huge discrepancy between the number of people needing services and the availability of appropriate services. Though many of these coun- tries had recognized the inadequacies of these approaches, not much was done to augment the volume and quality of services. Such inaction was not necessarily the result of insensitivity on the part of governments, but rather the result of resource constraints and the implementation of inappropriate methods to service delivery (O’Toole, 1990).

The use of inappropriate methods of service delivery (including institu- tionalized rehabilitation centres, and special schools) was seen as undesir- able and in many countries culminated in the call for reforms in rehabilitation and educational provision for persons with disabilities. In the United States (USA) in particular, the 1970s saw the coming into force of legislation such as the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) (1975, Public Law 94-142), which called for the provision of free public school education for all students with disabilities. Not long after the passage of EAHCA, several bodies including UNESCO (1990, 1994) and World Health Organization [WHO] (2006) also proposed some reforms in both rehabilitation and educational service provision for persons with disabilities. These developments marked the knick-point for new thinking and arrangements in area of special needs education at the international level and ultimately in Ghana.

PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE OF DISABILITY AND

SPECIAL NEEDS

Defining Exceptionality, People, and Ideas

Traditional views about disability are quite diverse, and divergence from the norm has been influenced by superstitious beliefs. Generally, in Ghana, people with disabilities were believed to be possessed by evil spirits and can be a source of bad omen for the family or community. For example among the Dagomba people of northern Ghana, some children with disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome � who usually have low muscle tone � are

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believed to be snake-spirits in disguise, who are capable of turning into big snakes at night to devour their enemies. Historically, these beliefs culmi- nated in cruelty, infanticide or negative attitudes towards such children and hampered efforts at providing rehabilitation in the family and community. These negative views about the causes and potential of disability to do harm have meant that people only see the negative attributes and fail to see the needs of people with disability. Such negative attitudes within society seem to influence teachers’ attitudes towards students with disabil- ities in the classroom (Agbenyega, 2007; Kuyini & Desai, 2007, 2008). It evident therefore that work needs to be done to change attitudes in the Ghanaian society.

In the formal sector, the definition of disability in Ghana appears to be confined to the more obvious sensory and physical disabilities. In other words people with disability have been defined as those with physi- cal, hearing, vision, intellectual and multiple impairments. According to the SED of the GES, the main types of special needs students provided for in schools include intellectual disability, hearing, and visual impairment. Although in recent times other disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder and psychiatric disabilities have been given attention, however, it is clear that this definition does not include other forms of disability or special needs such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder.

Prevalence

As in any other society, there is range of disabilities in Ghana. However, given no accurate data on disabilities in Ghana, The Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare (MESW) suggested calculating the num- ber of persons with disabilities using a 10% formula. Thus, for an esti- mated population of 25 million people, the percentage of people with disabilities would be about 2.5 million. At the turn of the century, The National Disability Policy Document (Government of Ghana, 2000) reported a much higher percentage (about 14.3%) based on reports from the regions (see Table 1). On the other hand, the a study by the National Community-Based Rehabilitation Programme (NCBRP) undertaken in the Upper East Region of Ghana in 1998 revealed a lower disability prevalence rate of 5.5% of the total population for that region (SUNEPED, Report, Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare [MESW], 1998), which conflicts with the estimates contained in the National Disability Policy

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Document. On the basis the National Disability Policy Document (Government of Ghana, 2000), it would appear therefore that the national average is well above 10% of the population.

The lack of accurate statistics on disability in the general population also applies to children of school going age. The GES in 2006 estimated that there were about 676,000�804,000 children with disabilities using the United Nations estimation of 10�12% of any given population. The Ghana Education Service [GES] (2006) indicated that children who are officially registered included only those with physical/severe learning dis- abilities, visual impairment and hearing impairment. In their 2008 study Kuyini and Desai reported that there was an average of 4�5 children with mild-moderate disabilities in inclusive classroom settings of 45�50 students. This represents about 2�2.5% of the classroom populations. Since many children with severe disabilities do not attend schools at all or often attend special schools, there is every indication that the popula- tion of children with special needs who should in educational settings is well above 5%.

The above high estimates of disability underscore the need for conscious effort in pursuing effective measures to provide rehabilitation, educational and other services to persons with disabilities. More importantly, the com- position of the disability population shows that a substantial percentage is within the school going age. These young persons with disabilities have a right to, and require access to education as all other citizens. No doubt, if the educational needs of such a substantial percentage of the population

Table 1. Disability Prevalence by Gender and Region.

Region Male % Female % Total %

Western 19.6 21.6 20.7

Central 19.0 23.9 21.6

Greater Accra 21.2 22.7 22.0

Volta 16.8 19.4 18.1

Eastern 10.2 11.5 10.9

Ashanti 11.4 14.1 12.8

Brong Ahafo 12.0 13.5 12.8

Northern 7.8 4.7 6.3

Upper East 3.5 1.0 2.3

Upper West 6.2 7.2 6.7

Total 13.4 15.2 14.3

Source: National Disability Policy Document, Government of Ghana (2000).

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were to be met by only special schools, it would require enormous amounts of resources to provide the appropriate variety of specialists, equipment and space in special education classrooms. It is this recognition that under- pins the recent Ghana Government’s drive to ensure that all children (with and without disabilities) attend their local schools. However, there appears to be a variety of barriers to realizing this objective of providing access to education for all children.

As in several other countries, many children with disabilities in Ghana are required to and often attend special schools. However, the bulk of children with disabilities have difficulty accessing education (both special and general), resulting in low levels of educational participation compared to the rest of the population. The National Disability Policy Document (MESW, 2000) in confirming the difficulty of children with disabilities in accessing basic education also estimated that about 53% of females with disabilities were without education, in contrast with 37.3% of males. In the last 10 years, the benefits of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme have resulted in increased school partici- pation nationally. For example, the low enrolment rate of 75�78% in 1992 and 1996 of children attending school has increased to 84% in 2011 (World Bank, 2012). However, educational participation by children with disabilities is still lower than those without disabilities. Such low levels of educational participation by children with disabilities has been blamed on a general limited educational provision in the communities, social rejec- tion due to negative attitudes towards disability and the attendant social stigma which induces parental restrictions to participation in society (World Bank, 2012).

TRENDS IN LEGISLATION AND POLICY

Since independence in 1957, major legislation relating to educational and service provision and wellbeing of people with a disability include the Education Act of 1961, The 1992 Constitution, Children’s Act of 1998, Persons with Disability Act (Act 715) of 2006, and the New Policy on Inclusive Education (SED, 2013). However, the provisions of the Education Act of 1961 which provided all children access to education irre- spective of ability or disability set the stage and provided the momentum towards Ghana’s eventual movement to an inclusive education system (Anson-Yevu, 1988; Avoke, 2001). The section below describes in detail Ghana’s development towards inclusive education.

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Developments Towards Inclusive Education in Ghana: 1987�2004

Ghana’s participation in the international developments in regard to pro- viding special needs education had some positive impact on the situation at home, and culminated in the 1980s witnessing significant steps to reform the entire educational system, and to improve on services for persons with disabilities. By 1986, reports indicated that service provision for persons with disabilities including educational provision in Ghana, were inadequate (Kuyini, 1998; Ofori-Addo, 1994; O’Toole et al., 1996). The reports specifi- cally noted that:

• The existing rehabilitation institutions were unevenly distributed across the country.

• Many of the institutions were urban-based, whereas the majority of the disabled lived in the rural areas.

• More importantly, special education in schools only benefited a small number of disabled children and rarely equipped the individual for employment in adult life.

• Vocational education provided through government rehabilitation institutions was of poor quality and lacked viability as to employment prospects (Ofori-Addo, 1994; O’Toole et al., 1996).

As a consequence, The Government of Ghana outlined and implemented a new educational reform programme in 1987. The reform called The New Educational Reform Programme of 1987 was aimed at improving access to and quality of education for all children. It had the following key objectives:

• Reverse the steady decline in the quality of education and address the negative outcomes.

• Tailor the organizational structure and content of the educational system to match the professional needs of the country.

• Create an effective and well-integrated management system of the educa- tional sector at the national level for all manner and levels of education.

The purpose of this last goal was to develop policy-based activities in line with national development objectives; provide a quality educational system in terms of content and services offered; and integrate special education into the regular educational system (Ofori-Addo et al., 1999). Such a goal required liaising with international bodies for advice and support and led to the invitation of the UNESCO team to Ghana.

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The UNESCO Consultation on Special Education The Ghana Government participated in, and committed itself to the processes and activities associated with the international decade of the disabled, including The United Nation’s World Program of Action for the Disabled (United Nations, 2006). In line with this commitment, The Government of Ghana reached out to UN bodies including UNESCO to initiate ways of tailoring policy and educational provisions towards meet- ing the needs of persons with disabilities. Consequently, the UNESCO Consultation on Special Education at the invitation of the Ghana Government visited Ghana in 1988. The consultation team’s objective was to ascertain the nature and level of need for educational provision for per- sons with disabilities in Ghana. The team’s finding reflected an imbalance between a huge need for educational services for persons with disabilities and limited resources for meeting the need (O’Toole et al., 1996). Against the background of the team’s belief in the potential of integrated education to be effective in providing desired outcomes, as happened in countries with similar conditions, the team recommended the concurrent initiation of a community-based rehabilitation and inclusive education programme in Ghana. Having carefully studied the recommendations, another UNESCO team was invited Ghana in 1991. The team assessed the possibility of establishing a Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programme (Ofori- Addo, 1994), and provided valuable recommendations to the Government of Ghana on how best to implement such a programme. The team’s recom- mendations, taking into account Ghana’s unique socio-economic and cul- tural context resulted in a convenient approach, where the general reform in the entire system of rehabilitation service delivery was tied to the devel- opment of an inclusive education programme (Ofori-Addo et al., 1999; O’Toole et al., 1996).

The CBR Programme and Inclusive Education Initiative The reform in the rehabilitation service delivery saw the initiation of the CBR programme (Ofori-Addo, 1994). The programme was implemented on a pilot basis in ten districts in 1992. In 1994, it was extended to 10 other districts following the initial successes in the first implementation areas. The aims of the CBR programme were to:

• Create awareness and mobilize resources at the community level to better enable

parents to help their disabled children attend school, to learn skills and participate

productively in family and community life.

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• Establish links with service providers in health, education community development

and social welfare at the district level. In this way the needs of the disabled can be

more effectively met.

• Strengthen the association of persons with disabilities to play a role in the mobiliza-

tion of the community for the implementation and management of the CBR

programme.

• Promote human rights of persons with disabilities (Ofori-Addo, 1994).

Outcome of CBR Programme Literature on CBR programmes in some developing countries had revealed that implementation was saddled with problems, and doubts had been expressed about the appropriateness and potential of the approach to ensure any effective or successful rehabilitation (Jaffer & Jaffer, 1990; O’Toole, 1987). However, Ghana’s programme showed promising results. In fact, evaluation reports of Ghana’s CBR programme Kuyini (1998), Ofori-Addo (1994) and O’Toole et al. (1996) indicated positive results in the direction of the programme objectives. In particular an outsider evalua- tion of the CBR programme in Northern Ghana by Kuyini (1998) indi- cated the following:

• The CBR programme, as conceived by the programme management, had been well implemented with respect to the administrative and structural arrangements.

• There was a substantial positive impact in line with some programme objectives such as; assistance to persons with disabilities, recruiting and engaging volunteer-local supervisors, getting parents to become trainers of the persons with disabilities, and the formation of disabled peoples’ organizations.

• The programme, however, faced clear problems with respect to the mobi- lization of local community resources and sustaining the concept of volunteer-local supervisors.

Educational Outcome of the CBR Programme One important outcome of the CBR programme was that it provided an avenue for establishing inclusive school environments. The Principle of Normalization (Wolfensberger, 1972) and the principle of belonging as grounded in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Kunc, 1992) were cardinal considerations underpinning the Government’s desire to implement the Community-Based Rehabilitation and Inclusive Education programmes. Since the implementation of the two programmes were all aimed at

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providing services to many persons with disabilities who were without services in the community, it also entailed the acceptance of the principles underlying the Primary Health Care Project, promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO). The development of the Primary Health Care Project entailed the acceptance of two important principles. The first was that it was more important to bring about small improvements for many than to provide the highest standard of care for a privileged few. And the second was that non-professionals with limited training could provide crucial services (O’Toole, 1989).

In the development of the CBR concept, it was envisioned that the most effective way of bringing about a change in the status of majority of the disabled (who were without services) was for the communities themselves to take on the task of rehabilitation. It was thought (in line with the above principles underscoring the usefulness of the Primary Health Care concept), that it was not possible to meet all needs of the disabled at the community level. However, up to 70% of needs could be dealt with at the community level. This would be a tremendous improvement on the 2�3% of needs that were being met in developing countries. The remaining needs could be addressed through referrals at the district and national levels (Helander, Mendis, & Nelson, 1989). Furthermore in line with these princi- ples, the CBR and inclusive education programmes in Ghana could provide crucial services, and lead to tremendous improvements in the per- centage of needs being met among the population persons with disabilities. With respect to education, the evolving inclusive local schools could pro- vide the needed services to students with disabilities who were not able to enrol in the few special schools. The initiation of the inclusive education programme was therefore the outcome of the implementation of the CBR programme, with the posting of trained peripatetic teachers to support students with disabilities attending their local schools (Ofori-Addo, 1994; O’Toole et al., 1996).

Policy Initiatives for Special/Inclusive Education: 2000�2012

Since the CBR and inclusive education initiative in the 1990s, many educa- tional provisions have been made that support inclusive education. Firstly, provisions in the 1992 constitution (Articles 36�39) allowed for the FCUBE agenda. Flowing from this provision, the government launched the free FCUBE programme in 1996, which increased educational

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access to many children with special needs in local schools. Then in 2000, the government released the National Disability Policy Document (MESW, 2000), which sought to respond to the need to provide opportu- nities for people with disability in education and increase social participa- tion. The document became the basis for the Persons with Disability Act of 2006.

The Ministry of Education Strategic Plan (2003�2015, MoE, 2003) and its extension 2010�2020 has been designed by the MoE in collabora- tion with UNESCO, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders in education. The aim of the Strategic Plan is to develop a model for Inclusive Education within the overarching framework of Education for All (EFA). The Plan (2003�2015) envisions the achieve- ment of an inclusive education system by 2015 through a Special Educational Needs Policy Framework that would address the issues of educational segregation and inequality to the education of students with disabilities (Ghana Education Service [GES], 2005). As a result, the SED of GES developed a policy in 2004 that aimed to contribute to the vision of progressive expansion of inclusive education (GES, 2006). The policy framework required the Special Education Division of the GES to explore and implement measures for progressing social and educational inclusion of students with disabilities. The SED is expected to work towards equal educational opportunities (access, participation and qual- ity) for students with special needs. One of the methods for achieving equal opportunity is to expand inclusive education across Ghana (GES, 2006).

In 2006, the Parliament of Ghana passed The Persons with Disability Act (Act 715). The Act makes several provisions for people with disability in terms of rehabilitation and education. Among others, the Act obligates the Government to enhance social participation, provide educational opportunities for people with disabilities and progressively establish rehabi- litation centres in regions and districts for people with disabilities. In addi- tion, the Act states that a CBR approach shall be used such that as far as practicable persons with disability shall be rehabilitated in their commu- nities to foster their integration. Finally, The Mental Health Bill, 846 is being considered by parliament and the provisions of this bill will serve the needs of people with psychiatric disabilities and other conditions that have impacts on psychosocial functioning of children and young people in edu- cational settings. Table 2 provides a summary of Ghana’s special education policy initiatives.

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Table 2. Policy Initiatives.

Date Name of Policy Policy Provision

The 1992

Constitution

of Ghana

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana makes provisions for people

with disabilities and special needs in relation to:

Protection from discrimination and abusive (Article 29)

Access to education for people with disabilities/special

needs (Article 37 and 38). These articles formed the basis

for the FCUBE programme of 1996.

June 2000 National

Disability

Policy

Document

This document was jointly developed by the Ministry of

Employment & Social Welfare, Federation of the Disabled

in Ghana, and the Ministry of Education. It is the first

comprehensive document focusing on situational analysis of

people with disability, rights to education and participation

and service provision. It outlined rights with regard to

education, transportation, community acceptance, housing

and employment (MESW, 2000). Informed by Ghana’s

experience with implementing the CBR programme, the UN

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the UN

Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for

People with Disabilities (1993). It provided the foundation

for the Persons With Disability Act, 2006.

2003�2015 Government of Ghana’s

Education

Strategic Plan

(ESP)

2003�2015 and

2010�2020

The strategic plan advances five key issues: Achieving the

Goals of Education For All and the Millennium

Development Goals Progressing social and educational

inclusion of students with disabilities Equalizing

Educational Opportunity-Increasing educational access for

students with disabilities/special needs through special

schools and expanding inclusive schools environments

(MoE, 2003) The Basis for the Special Educational

Needs Policy Framework.

2005 Special

Educational

Needs Policy

Framework

The framework outlines/addresses the challenges of

marginalization, segregation and inequality that have

previously constituted barriers to the education of students

with disabilities (GES, 2005).

June 2006 Persons with

Disability Act

The main legislation for rights and service provision for

people with disabilities in Ghana. Informed by the National

Disability Policy Document (2000) The 1992 Constitution

of Ghana, the UN Convention On The Rights Of Persons

With Disabilities (2006) and the UN Convention on the

Rights of the Child (1989).

2011�2012 Special Needs & Inclusive

Education

(SNIE) Policy

National consultation around the development of a new

Special Needs and Inclusive Education (SNIE) Policy was

started in 2011 and is yet to be finalized.

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EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS: POLICY AND

STANDARDS

The MoE and the GES are responsible for policy and administration of educational services in Ghana. The GES is the main implementing and supervisory agent of primary and secondary education services. The GES provides basic education services to all children regardless of ability or dis- ability. The criteria and standards employed for the education of students with disabilities are no different from those without disabilities. Both regu- lar and special schools run pre-school programmes and also provide full basic level education for all children consisting of six years primary and three years junior secondary schooling. In special schools additional sup- port to students with extra learning needs was and is provided by trained special education (GES, 2006).

The Special Education Division of Ghana Education Service

The GES is the implementation organ of the MoE for basic education ser- vices. The GES has 12 divisions, one of which is SED. The SED, estab- lished as a unit in 1976, became a full division in 1985. The mission and responsibility of the division is the provision of education services for chil- dren and young people with disabilities and/or special learning needs in pri- mary and secondary schools. It also has specific oversight responsibility for the inclusive education programme. The GES outlines the vision of the spe- cial education division as endeavouring to establish ‘An inclusive education system, where children with disabilities and those with Special Education Needs (SEN) benefit from quality education to make them independent and employable in order to contribute their quota to the development of the nation’ (Ghana Education Service [GES], 2010). This vision is expected to be achieved through observing three key principles:

• The Right to Education. • The Right to Equality of Education Opportunity. • The Right to fully participate in the Affairs of the Society (GES, SED,

2010).

Current Activities In collaboration with other Ghana government Ministries and non- government organizations the Division of Special Education oversees

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educational provision to all children and youth with identified disability and/or special needs through the following activities:

1. Establish and supervise special schools, special education units and sup- port inclusive schools.

2. Assess the educational needs of children through three National Assessment centres.

3. Support the planning, implementing individualized Educational Programmes for students with special needs.

4. Assess curriculum in schools and contribute to the training of special educators through curriculum development and instruction in colleges of Education and Universities.

5. Resource Special schools, assessment centres and Braille and sign Language facilities.

Today, the Division has supervisory oversight of 1,468 special schools, unit schools, and inclusive schools across the country. Details of educational provision at these schools is discussed later under the heading ‘Perspective on the progress of special education’.

Interventions and Standards

In general, policy intentions such as those contained in the National Constitution and Acts of Government are more or less broad intentions for service delivery. Thus, the crux of policy making and implementation relates to the identifying what is intended to be done backed by a narrow formulation of what can be done at a point in time bearing in mind the actors and resources allocation to the cause. The government has made attempts at improving access to schools for students with special needs building school infrastructure and school level implementation initiatives.

There is no comprehensive policy on school level intervention standards across the country. Intervention standards applied to mainstream schools also apply to special schools. However, in terms of access, parental respon- sibility, assessment of learning needs and use of Individual education Plans (IEPs) there are provisions in different policies that lead to a definition of standards for interventions in schools. The different policies summarized in the previous pages, advocate and prescribe some interventions, which are more or less a guide to the expectations pertaining to institutions and actors. For example, under the Education Strategic Plan (2003�2015) the Government initiated pilot inclusive education programmes in 30 schools

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in Central, Eastern and Greater Accra regions. This effort was supported by some international NGOs, such as Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO), Sight Savers International (SSI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In the inclusive schools, emphasis is placed on ensuring that students showing signs of learning difficulties/ special needs are assessed and learning support plans put in place to sup- port their learning. The lessons from these schools were intended to inform practice for future broad national implementation and in the last few years the research and experiences from the initial 30 schools have been used to guide further expansion in all regions of Ghana.

The Persons with Disability Act (Act 715) of 2006 makes provision in regard to educational participation. First, it obligates parents, guardians or custodians of a child with disability who is of school going age, to enrol the child in school. Further, The MoE shall by legislative instru- ment designate schools or institutions in each region, which shall provide the necessary facilities and equipment that will enable persons with dis- ability to fully benefit from the school or institution. More importantly, the Government shall provide free education for a person with disability, and establish special schools for persons with disability who by reason of their disability cannot be enroled in formal schools. The Government shall also provide appropriate training for basic school graduates who are unable to pursue further formal education and this includes the desig- nation, in each region, of a public technical, vocational and teacher train- ing institutions which shall include in their curricula special education, such as sign language, and Braille writing and reading. Finally, the acts make it an offense for any educational institution to refuse admission on account of disability.

Teaching: Principles and Methodology

The standard of teaching to be provided for children with disabilities includes the following:

(1) Children with visual impairment learn through the Braille and are cap- able of accessing basic education up to the university education.

(2) Education for the hearing impaired is for children from basic education to tertiary-university education.

(3) Education for intellectual disability is limited to only basic education level. However efforts are being made to have a transition programme

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in the technical and vocational models that can make them have skills for daily living.

(4) Inclusive teaching methodologies, deriving from the UNESCO Resource Pack and others sources will be used.

The inclusive interventions include: methodology, reinforcing, prompting, accommodation modification and adaptation, chaining, and task analysis. Whereas strategies include: collaborative problem solving, peer tutoring, staff development, classroom and student management, cooperative learning, multi-level instruction, peer�peer coaching, peer-led teaching, and twinning. These strategies are integral to any training programme for teachers and there is an expectation that they will be used in class- rooms. However, recent studies show that many teachers report having limited knowledge of these skills (Agbenyega & Deku, 2011). The chal- lenges of implementing instructional provision are discussed later in this chapter.

WORKING WITH FAMILIES

Working with families of children with a disability is a highly recom- mended strategy for providing the best education and support to students with special needs. In pre-colonial Ghana traditional systems prevailed, where parents educated their children with disabilities in the home (Anson- Yevu, 1988). With the institution of schools for students with disabilities, school authorities had to establish a liaison with parents. Anson-Yevu (1988) reports that the first evidence of families taking an advocacy role in Ghana occurred on in 1964, when parents of children with intellectual dis- abilities formed an association called the ‘Society of Friends of the Mentally Retarded’. The work of this group of parents led to the establish- ment of the first ‘home for the mentally handicapped’ in 1966, which later became a special school (GES, 2005). This was the beginning of parental involvement in children’s education in a proactive and meaningful way and many parents began to be involved in some way in their children’s education.

Although nothing substantive has been written about this in the Ghanaian literature, it is evident in written school reports that all special schools have parent associations, which are committed to the welfare of their children.

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It is important to note that collaborating with parents needs to happen in all schools (mainstream and special schools). And while special schools and rehabilitation institutions had embraced parental collaboration with schools, this was more erratic in mainstream schools. However, the 1990s witnessed a big paradigm shift in formalizing parental roles both in reha- bilitation institutions and schools. First, the inception of CBR brought a new dimension to the parental participation in that parents received training in rehabilitation techniques and also on how to support their children through the inclusive education settings that were integral to the programme. The establishment of the CBR saw one of the best attempts to work comprehensively with parents of children with a disability. The CBR programme required parents of disabled children to assume training roles that would allow them to assist their children educationally. It also required that the parents would assume the training role for other family members. Evaluation studies (Kuyini, 1998; Ofori-Addo, 1994; O’Toole et al., 1996) showed that parents did assume training roles for their chil- dren. In fulfilling these roles they developed liaisons with CBR pro- gramme officers, local supervisors, disabled people’s organizations and Community Rehabilitation Committees. This initiative culminated in many parents joining disability organizations in their local communities/ districts; a development that has enhanced parental collaboration with schools.

Another major change occurred with the implementation of the FCUBE programme. FCUBE envisioned increased access to achieve Education for All Goals. As part of the FCUBE policy, schools were required to set up School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) as a way to enhance communities’ sense of ownership and partici- pation in school governance. Today, most schools have PTAs, which have a good understanding of how the schools are run, their achievement, chal- lenges and needs of learners in the school.

In special schools teachers and peripatetic teachers work with parents to facilitate assessments and support learning in other ways. Many parents honour school visits and help in the school administration and school improvement. Parents participate in setting policy such as rules and regula- tions governing bully, name-calling, stigmatization and marginalization of children with special needs. They also can be brought in to provide in- service education training sessions around attitude towards children with disabilities and special needs. Finally, they support schools to raise funds to meet the schools’ needs.

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TEACHERS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION: ROLES,

EXPECTATIONS AND TRAINING

Role of Special Schools Teachers

In special schools the roles of teachers are quite specific. They are required to do the following:

• Liaise with District Special Education to ensure pupils are regularly screened and assessed.

• Ensure Individualized Education Plans developed and administered for children with disabilities and special needs are reviewed regularly.

• Ensure that Children with disabilities and Special Educational Needs have access to the relevant educational materials, specialized equipment and assistive devices.

• Ensure the curriculum is adapted. • Submit term reports on Children with disabilities and Special Educational

Needs to the head teacher (school principal).

Roles of Peripatetic and Resource Teachers

Peripatetic teachers are itinerant teachers working in clusters of schools. The peripatetic teachers operate within the special education unit of the District office of The Ghana Education Service. The responsibilities of the peripatetic teachers include coordinating the inclusion programme in the district, providing in-service training on inclusion to teachers in the dis- trict, assessing students’ special needs, recommending appropriate remedial measures to teachers, and supervising/evaluating the inclusion programme in the district. The role of peripatetic teachers is crucial in that they not only identify children with special needs in the schools under their jurisdic- tion, but also have to ensure that such students receive the best possible education, given the circumstances and the means available. At present peripatetic teachers and/or resource teachers are attached to pilot inclusive schools to offer support to students and teachers. They are expected to work in schools where students with identified special needs are and pro- vide guidance and instruction where needed.

Regular Classroom Teachers

The above-mentioned roles of special educators and peripatetic teachers differ from regular classroom teachers. With the advent of inclusive

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education the role of regular classroom teachers have also changed. As the government progressively rolls out inclusive schools many regular class- room teachers are expected to play a much broader role that reflects the philosophy and principles of inclusive education. According to Mamlin (1999) regular classroom teachers must play a critical role in making schools more inclusive. This researcher stressed that the classroom teacher is the single most important indispensable factor to the successful imple- mentation of inclusion as it is the responsibility of the classroom teacher to determine whether or not the innovations and accommodations will be implemented and have any chance of succeeding (Mamlin, 1999).

Under inclusive education, the teacher is required to assume a number of new roles, including being a collaborator, social worker, classroom man- ager, counsellor, record keeper, and motivator (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2000). Such a responsibility comes with many challenges, including the need to make changes to work organization aspects, attitudes and instruc- tional methods (Booth & Ainscow, 1998). In Ghana, it is expected that reg- ular classroom teachers would identify children with potential learning difficulties. Where required, teachers are expected to refer them for formal assessment to be carried out at one of three assessment centres. Finally, classroom teachers having received some training during initial teacher training are expected to recognize special learning needs, devise strategies to provide meaningful instruction to such students and support the devel- opment and implementation of IEPs for such students in their classrooms.

Teacher Training for Special Education

Historically, training of teachers for special education began in 1965 with the training of teachers for children with hearing impairment. In 1975 the Presbyterian Training College in Akropong-Akwapim began training tea- chers with regard to teach children with a visual impairment. The College of Special Education was established in 1985 and offered a two-year certifi- cate programme that combined ordinary teacher training with intensive special education preparation. The college trained teachers to support stu- dents with visual, hearing, speech and language, and intellectual impair- ments. In 1992, the College of Special Education was amalgamated with two other specialist colleges at Winneba and Kumasi to for the University of Education Winneba.

This brief history of special education teacher training indicates that prior to the 1990s, teacher training for special education occurred mainly at the College of Special Education. However, from 1989, efforts were made

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to expand special needs knowledge, with the introduction of special educa- tion content into initial teacher training colleges. In 2004, the Teacher Training Colleges were upgraded from certificate to diploma-awarding institutions and called Colleges of Education. Further, during the establish- ment of the CBR, a pilot training to teach about inclusive education was launched for teachers in the project districts.

Teacher Training for Inclusive Education under CBR

The introduction of the CBR for people with disabilities in 1992 also envi- sioned the training of peripatetic teachers for inclusive education in schools within the pilot districts. The SED of GES played a key role in the CBR in terms of trialling inclusive education in 10 and later 20 pilot districts. Under the CBR programme, all districts were required to implement the inclusive education programmes and were provided with at least one peri- patetic teacher (PPT). At the start of the CBR programme, eighteen peripa- tetic teachers from the ten districts (where the inclusive education initiative was launched) attended a two-month training workshop on special needs education. The UNESCO Teachers’ Resource Pack (RP) on Special Needs in the Classroom (1993) was used as a resource book for this workshop, and adopted by the MoE as the main resource material for training of tea- chers for special needs education in Ghana. Following the initial workshop, UNESCO carried out three more one week workshops on special needs education in 1993 for four head-teachers (principals), eight regular teachers from four regular schools, eighteen peripatetic teachers and three officers from the SED. Later, other rounds of training were organized for a total of 150 educators including district directors of education, peripatetic teachers and regular classroom teachers from the districts implementing inclusion (Ofori-Addo et al., 1999).

The MoE adopted a train-the-trainer approach for the inclusive educa- tion teacher training programme, whereby teachers who received the initial training were required to train other teachers in the respective districts. A resource team of eight peripatetic teachers was set up to provide subsequent training for peripatetic teachers and new teachers in the districts imple- menting inclusion. In 1994, the district directors of education in another 10 new districts were obligated to provide training in the methodology of the Resource Pack to teachers in their districts. However, it soon became evi- dent that in-service teacher training for a demanding undertaking such as inclusion was perhaps unlikely to provide the needed skills to the majority

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of teachers. This resulted in the MoE initiating The Pilot Action Research Project (PARP), which sought to re-invigorate the earlier attempt to special needs education training into the curriculum of pre-service teacher training colleges (Ofori-Addo et al., 1999).

The Pilot Action Research Project began in November 1994 with a two- week course facilitated by a UNESCO team for a variety of personnel of the MoE. Participants included 20 tutors from ten teacher training colleges, 20 regular teachers from pilot schools affiliated to these training colleges and 10 officers from the different departments of the Ghana Education Service (including Teacher Education and Special Education Departments). Tutors from the teacher training colleges (who had undergone the training) were required to incorporate the content of the special needs methodology advocated by the Resource Pack into the curriculum of teacher training beginning in 1995 (Ofori-Addo et al., 1999). Teacher trainees from such teacher training colleges were therefore afforded the opportunity (from the beginning of 1995) to learn more about special needs education methods in order to meet the needs of students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms.

Current Teacher Training Regime

Only two universities (University of Cape Coast and University of Education Winneba) provide teacher training including special education in Ghana. The bulk of teachers who teach in special schools are trained in Colleges of Education (formally called Teacher Training Colleges). The cur- rent structure of basic teacher training in Ghana is designed to provide a three-year pre-service Diploma in Basic Education, which is divided into Program A and B to prepare teachers for teaching in primary and junior secondary schools, respectively. The Colleges of Education practice what is called the In-In-Out-Program. The first two years of teacher training are devoted to learning content knowledge in: mathematics, English, science, vocational skills, social studies, music and dance, religion and moral educa- tion, physical education, Ghanaian language and educational studies. In essence, the trainees are taught subject content knowledge sufficient for them to be able to teach those subjects. They also learn the pedagogy asso- ciated with different subject areas including introduction to special educa- tion or teaching students with special needs. In the third year of training student teachers undertake supervised teaching practice in schools. All Colleges of Education have since 1990, included special education into their curriculum. In the last 5 years, the content has been enhanced with the

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publication of a custom book on special needs for teacher training colleges. The curriculum of the Colleges of Education now includes enhanced special education content (Fobih, 2008). An analysis of the teacher training curricu- lum shows that inclusive education is given special attention. During the second year of the 3-year training programme, content and competencies related to inclusive education are taught with the framework of a theme called Educating the Individual with Special Needs. The content of Educating the Individual with Special Needs focuses on causes of various conditions and the different categories of special needs such as students with visual and hearing impairment, physical and behaviour disorders, gifted/talented chil- dren and intellectual impairment. It also focuses on instructional strategies that can be used to support such students in special schools and inclusive settings. However, given the short nature of the course, not all areas are ade- quately covered and much of the research in Ghana shows that teacher com- plain about inadequate special education knowledge and skills.

In-service Programmes

In-service training sessions have also been organized for teachers at national, regional and districts levels by the GES, including the SED and some NGOs such as the USAID, Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO), Sight Savers International (SSI) and more recently Visio International from the Netherlands, which collaborated with the SED to train Special Education resource teachers. The most recent and much broader initiative with respect to addressing quality of teacher training is the collaborative work between the GES’s Teacher Education Division, USAID, and the two teacher train- ing universities (University of Cape Coast and the University of Education) that led to improved special needs content in the teacher training curricu- lum for pre- and in-service training programmes. An important outcome of this work is a book, which is now used as a training resource for teachers across the country.

PERSPECTIVE ON THE PROGRESS OF SPECIAL

EDUCATION IN GHANA

The area of Special education has made great progress in the last decade with the passing of the Disability Act of 2006 and the recently proposed policy on

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inclusive education. The focus of special education provision is to cater to the needs of those with sensory impairment. Students with physical disabilities are generally educated in the mainstream (MoE, 2008). It is also evident that no formal special education services are offered specifically to students with Learning Disabilities (GES, 2004; MoE, 2008). Many inclusive schools are progressively being established and their development is detailed under inclu- sive schools.

Special Schools

The broad spectrum of special school provisions includes boarding and day options. The provision of boarding and day special schools is quite limited as these schools are few and therefore are not accessible to children who live far from the towns where such schools are located. As of 2008 the SED of GES managed the following schools:

• 13 segregated special boarding basic education schools for the hearing impaired.

• 2 segregated special boarding basic education schools for the visually impaired.

• 3 units for the visually impaired. • 12 segregated special boarding schools for the intellectually impaired. • 23 units for intellectually impaired. • 3 segregated special boarding secondary/technical/vocational schools for

the hearing impaired. • 4 integrated special secondary schools for the visually impaired. • 3 integrated teacher training colleges for students with disability.

Table 3 shows the special education school enrolment in 2008.

Table 3. Special Education School Enrolments (2008).

Enrolment Male Female Total

Basic level 2,006 1,442 3,498

Second cycle level 148 66 214

Teacher training colleges 26 15 41

Technical/vocational 181 114 293

Special classes 643 401 1,044

Source: MoE (2008).

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Current Provisions

Current data from the SED of the GES, displayed in Table 4 indicate that the following provisions are available to students with special needs in 2012�2013.

The table is evidence that provisions for students with special needs are increasing in number and breadth to meet the growing demands. The effort of government has been geared towards not only setting up schools but also increasing educational access through the building unit schools to serve stu- dents with special needs. Several international NOGs and Governmental organizations have supported the drive to provide infrastructure, training and resources. In terms of infrastructure development to increase school access, the most notable government effort has been through the FCUBE programme and the work of the Ghana Education Trust Fund. In this regard the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) (re-named German Agency for International Co-operation in 2011) supported the GES SED to establish 23 special units and also new classrooms blocks in mainstream schools in different regions of Ghana to assist the inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities. In addition, the Government has been active in developing Technical/Vocational Training streams for students with special needs. Presently, more than 15 schools at primary and secondary level run Technical/Vocational Training courses.

Inclusive Education

The further development of inclusive education is hinged on Ghana’s ratifi- cation of the provisions of the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994), the

Table 4. Special and Inclusive Schools.

Special and Inclusive schools Number

Special schools for hearing impairment 15

Special schools for visual impairment 2

Special schools for deaf-blind 1

Special schools for students with intellectual disability 11

Unit schools for students with intellectual disability 25

Unit school for visual impairment 4

Integrated senior high school for 6

Inclusive schools for basic education 3

Inclusive schools for colleges of education 3

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Dakar 2000 recommendations (UNESCO, 2000) and meeting the Education for All Goals (UNESCO, 1990). As a result, there is a vision and an expec- tation that by 2015 all mainstream schools will be inclusive in their approach (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2011a, 2011b). Although there has been big expansion in the number of inclusive schools to over 900, the GES states that only 6 of these schools can be said to be well established.

Inclusive schools are set up with variations in terms of special classes and resource rooms in regular schools, and the use of support teachers in regular classes. The GES and the SED has developed six models for imple- menting inclusive education (SED, 2011). The SED outlines the different models as follows:

Model 1: involves integrating students with low vision and blindness in mainstream schools with the support an itinerant peripatetic teacher.

Model 2: is a unique model involving the education of students with visual impairment (Blind) within special schools for the Deaf. Upon mastery of the some requisite skills the students are moved to main- stream schools.

Model 3: involves the provision of special units for children with Intellectual Disability within mainstream schools.

Model 4: are inclusive schools with resource teachers. These schools aim for full inclusion. The resource teachers collaborate with the regular teachers and work with students.

Model 5: involves mainstream schools that use inclusive approaches but without resource teacher support. Such schools use regular classroom teachers who implement inclusive teaching interventions in order to provide the quality teaching that benefit the learning of all students including those with learning difficulties. It is one of the models aim- ing for full inclusion.

Model 6: provides hostels for pupils with low vision and blindness that live far away from mainstream schools that can serve their needs. The students are given critical skills that allow them to be moved to main- stream schools (SED, 2011).

Additionally Government is endeavouring to provide qualified teachers and other resources to service the schools. For example resource teachers have been posted to inclusive schools since 2008 to support learning of stu- dents with mild disabilities and learning difficulties. Also cooperation with several international philanthropic as well as disability focused organiza- tions such as Sight Savers, VSO, and USAID has led to the injection of teaching resources into the some special schools. For example VSO

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provided resources and training for teachers in 2006/2007 when it set up demonstration inclusive schools. Further, the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) provide training to teachers and assist Ghana with some assistive technology equipment to enhance teaching and learning for students with special needs (Hooker, 2008).

The future direction for Special and Inclusive Education are yet unclear as the new policy is yet to be finalized. However, Fobih (2008), proposed at the International Conference on Education held in Geneva in 2008 under the title Inclusive Education: the Way of the Future, education of students with special needs will follow the pattern of special schools, mainstream schools with special units and inclusive schools with and without resource teachers. The last two will be seeking to achieve full inclusion. Thus by 2015, the model will be as shown in Table 5.

CHALLENGES OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN GHANA

Ghana has made significant progress in making provisions for access to education and to improve quality education for students with special needs. However, school structures and quality of instruction in these schools have many challenges related to: access, resources, teacher training and teaching quality. These aspects are discussed in more detail below.

Access

In terms of access to services, earlier conclusions of Kuyini (1998), Ofori- Addo et al. (1999), and O’Toole et al. (1996) blamed limited access to schools and rehabilitation on service/school location, parental poverty and resourcing. In line with the view that general poverty and resource con- straints were resulting in limited services for students with disabilities, O’Toole et al. (1996) and Ofori-Addo et al. (1999) asked a critical question;

Table 5. Model of Educational Provision for Students with Special Needs in Ghana.

Basic Education

Mainstream Schools Inclusive Schools Special Schools

(Special Units) Inclusive Education Special Education

Full Inclusive Education Special Education

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‘… how high a priority is it to provide education for a child with a disabil- ity?’ Currently, there remains the problem of geographic spread of schools. Many schools are still located in urban areas, which mean that families in rural areas have to send their children to schools far away from home and find the resources to pay for their accommodation. There are also the psy- chological issues of separation at a very young age from family and local community. Recent research on special units for students with Intellectual disabilities in mainstream schools also shows that there are issues with achieving meaningful inclusion (Kuyini, 2014). For example, the special units form part of the inclusive education Model 3 which involves the pro- vision of special units for children who are intellectually impaired within mainstream schools (SED, 2011), however, many of the schools are not providing the academic and social interactional opportunities to allow these students to be integrated (Kuyini, 2014).

Resourcing

The problem of access is linked to resourcing. In general, resourcing educa- tion in Ghana is a huge problem despite the Government increasing educa- tional spending to about 25% since 2008 (World Bank, 2010). In 2005, Capitation Grants were introduced as part of the new education reforms to absorb user-fees at the elementary not secondary level in order to increase access, retention, and completion (MoE, 2006). The premise underlying the Capitation Grant was that it would remove the burden on households to pay fees for basic education, especially poor children whose access to edu- cation has been constricted by these fees (Akyeampong, 2011). For special schools, resourcing is a greater problem because special schools have addi- tional activities and materials required for teaching which are not ade- quately budgeted on an annual basis. One can therefore conclude that despite the inception of the Capitation Grants, the question posed by O’Toole et al. (1996) and Ofori-Addo et al. (1999) remains a useful ques- tion. In the current climate some special schools are unable to meet their basic cost on a sustainable basis because they don’t receive even basic gov- ernment funding to keep them afloat. For instance, in 2013, there have been reports of philanthropists coming to the rescue of two special schools, which were going to be evicted from rented premises. Such incidents com- pletely align with the notion that the government is neglecting the special education sector even though both the national constitution and the FCUBE programme have promised access to education for all children.

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Making the situation worse, many parent groups have been unable to sup- port the schools where their wards are in attendance and this accentuates the fact that diminished parental capacity is contributing to limited educa- tional access for children with disabilities.

Resources for Inclusive Education

The effect of limited teaching resources and supplies (Obi, Mamah, & Avoke, 2007) also continues to be a challenge for schools. Teachers have voiced huge concerns about inclusive education owing to resource con- straints (Gyimah, Sugden, & Pearson, 2008; Kuyini & Desai, 2007, 2008; Obeng, 2007). Regular classrooms teachers require additional resources (teaching materials) as well as the support of teacher assistants to implement inclusive teaching in the generally large classrooms, average 50 students in many schools. Such resources are however, unavailable and this reality led Hooker (2008) to recommend a systemic approach to inclusive education, with a consistent commitment of resources and stability of personnel in order to realize the stated Governments objectives by 2015. However, this asking is doubtful in current Ghanaian context with limited resources and lack of political perseverance on the part of Government. The failure of government to commit resources is not new and it is known to have impacted upon the sustainability of past programmes such as the CBR programme in the 1990s. Another example is that although the GeSCI sup- ported the Ghana Education Service’s (GES) with assistive technologies for special educational needs in 2007�2008, there are no clear policy initiatives to support or maintain the assistive technology resources in schools for special needs. Thus, there is no guarantee that any meaningful support for students included in regular schools will be achieved into the future.

Further, although The Persons with Disability Act (715) of 2006 has made laudable provisions for increased educational access, the main provi- sions in relation to access and ensuring that technical and vocational schools include sign language and Braille reading and writing into their cur- riculum are unlikely to be achieved. In this regard, one of the key strategies of inclusive education is to ensure ‘equitable educational opportunities’ and maximize opportunities for students with ‘non-severe special education needs’ to be included into mainstream schools by 2015. The main challenge is budgetary allocation for the so-called none essential aspects of govern- ment, which includes the services to people with disabilities. These are never seen as priorities and the National Council on Disability has

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observed that the budget for implementing the education strategy policy is showing large funding gaps that might not be met by 2015 or even beyond. Secondly, while it is very important to ensure that children with disabilities are admitted to schools, the most critical issue in Ghana at this stage is not the refusal to admit children with disabilities to school. Rather, it is the inability of schools and the lack of effort on the part of teachers to address their learning needs, due in part to inadequate knowledge and skills and the lack of resources (Kuyini & Desai, 2007, 2008). One of such areas is the need to have technical and vocational schools that would include sign lan- guage and Braille reading and writing into their curriculum. At the moment, this is not happening because schools don’t have resources (human and material) to effect these recommendations.

Problem with Policy Making

Public policy making in Ghana is characterized by problems of process and implementation. In terms of process, it has been criticized as being exclu- sionary and elitist; with inconsistencies in the selection and prosecution of policy priorities as government alternate between political parties of differ- ent ideologies; and an unstable political environment in which the authorita- tive allocation of values for society is made. In respect of implementation, there are issues with what is called implementation deficits caused by the lack of resources and the inability of government to build an efficient and effective coordination and communication network among all the indivi- duals and agencies involved in putting the policy into effect (Kuyini, Alhassan, & Mahama, 2011). In a developing country like Ghana, such a scenario can have severe consequences for service delivery and impact nega- tively on service users.

In addition to the problem of policy making, there is concern that the government’s approach to establishing inclusive education since the 1990s, has been quite piece-meal and ineffective. In relation to this piece-meal approach, Hooker (2007, 2008) noted that Ghana’s rather ad hoc approach to inclusive education does not augur well for achieving the vision of inclu- sion in line with the EFA and Millennium Development Goals agenda. Hooker, like Peters (2004), Kuyini and Desai (2007) recommends that

A policy framework and legislative support at the national level must be in place as a

necessary prerequisite to access and equal participation in IE programs. [She observes

further that] Countries that have passed legislation and adopted IE policies, with

systematic monitoring, backed-up by enforcement are most positively positioned to

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enact IE policy. Successful countries have coupled these strategies with comprehensive

education (knowledge dissemination) and awareness training directed at all levels of the

system, recognizing that national policy is of little value if it isn’t enacted in school and

in the classrooms. (p. 12)

Another issue with inclusive education policy is the lack specificity in the many initiatives as well as the Disability Act to guide implementation. For example the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715) of 2006 talks about the rights of Persons with Disabilities to services such as education and rehabi- litation, but it is not specific about how students with special needs with be included into regular school classrooms. Further, the recently appointed National Disability Council is yet to initiate discussions about what prior- ity areas of the inclusive education process should be tackled in order to ensure that other segments of the inclusive policy intents can be given attention. On the basis of these limited actions in relation to inclusive schooling, it is going to take some time before broad policy intents are translated into service realities for many students with special learning needs in Ghana.

Issues with Policy Implementation

Implementing policies with regard to people with disabilities is a big chal- lenge in Ghana. For example, after piloting the CBR programme in the 1990s the government indicated its willingness to transfer responsibility to local government agencies. However, no resources were provided and despite efforts by disability advocacy groups the programme was starved of funding and it collapsed (Kuyini et al., 2011). Another example of imple- mentation problems relates to the Persons with Disability Act of 2006. Since the passage of the act seven years ago, the government has been unable to fund the implementation of the law. It will be interesting to note that even simple requirements such as making public buildings accessible to all people with disabilities by 2016 are yet to take hold and therefore, unli- kely to be achieved. There is also no evidence that the Government is com- mitted to providing the needed resources within the budgetary processes to support broad scale implementation with regard to services.

In terms of inclusive education implementation in Ghana, there are obvious problems with teacher training, knowledge and skills, teacher atti- tudes, teaching quality and resources. Also, there are barriers associated with school personnel and social attitudes, however, despite the persuasive arguments by writers such as Agbenyega (2007), Ocloo et al. (2002), and

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Kuyini et al. (2011) who have highlighted the negative effects of traditional beliefs and stigmatizing attitudes to the provision of educational services to students with disabilities, these issues have not impacted the actual actions or inactions of government to provide such services in the first place. Thus, while traditional beliefs and attitudes are contributory implementation bot- tlenecks, the limited priority given to such services by government is more damaging.

Teacher Training and Quality of Instruction in Inclusive Classrooms

Inclusive education practices in Ghana shows that teachers hold relatively positive attitudes towards including students with disabilities/special needs in regular school classrooms, however, over the last 10 years, many studies have reported that teachers have limited knowledge of inclusive education and the instructional skills needed for supporting such students (Agbenyega, 2007; Casely-Hayford, 2002; Gyimah et al., 2008; Kuyini & Desai, 2007, 2008). This limited knowledge and skills among teachers has been attributed to inadequate initial training, limited in-service training opportunities for teachers, and shortage of qualified general and special educators (Agbenyega & Deku, 2011, Ghana Education Service [GES], 2008; Sayed, Akyeampong, & Ampiah, 2000).

Teacher training programmes in Ghana have aimed to increase tea- chers’ repertoire of knowledge and skills to improve on the quality of instruction for all students as reiterated by the 2007 education reform (Government of Ghana, 2007a, 2007b). However, it appears that the train- ing institutions are not providing enough content and practical knowledge to meet teachers’ needs. As Agbenyega and Deku (2011) observed, ‘tea- cher training is still framed within colonial-culturally blended pedagogical practice and that the pedagogical archetypes in practice in current teacher training institutions and schools lack the complexity of teaching required in inclusive classrooms’ (p. 20). Also, studies by Obi et al. (2007) and Casely-Hayford (2002) found that regular teachers did not receive ade- quate training to handle children with special needs and therefore lacked confidence to implement inclusion in schools. Such an outcome led Johnstone (2010) to conclude that since regular teachers lack the knowl- edge and skills to implement inclusive teaching practices for children with special learning needs, more special education teachers are needed in schools to support regular teachers in their efforts to implement inclusion in classroom.

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In an address to the teachers at an in-service session on 24 March 2010, Madam Victoria Opoku, Director in charge of Secondary Education at the Ghana Education Service Head-office corroborated research findings (Agbenyega, 2007, Avoke, 2002; Gyimah et al., 2008; Kuyini & Desai, 2007) on the limited teacher knowledge and skills and the poor quality of instruction in schools. The Director admitted that despite in-service train- ing programmes and other extra classes, the performance of secondary stu- dents in recent times was at its lowest. This was indicative of the problems with quality of instruction for even the most capable students and greater concerns of students with special needs in inclusive classrooms.

The above aside, there are still problems related to the appropriateness of educational programmes designed to meet the needs of students with dis- abilities (GES, 2010, Kuyini & Desai, 2008). More crucial to meeting the needs of students with disabilities therefore was the provision of appropri- ate educational programmes within regular education settings. Over a dec- ade ago, The National Disability Policy document (Government of Ghana, 2000) lamented the reality that educational programmes in regular schools do not often take the special needs of children with disabilities into account, and this was hampering the process of integrating children with disabilities into mainstream schools. This limited educational participation further reinforced the need for conscious effort in pursuing effective mea- sures to provide rehabilitation, educational and other services to persons with disabilities. In pursuance of the objective of increasing access to ser- vices including education, both the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and the National Disability Policy Document (Government of Ghana, 2000, 2006) called for awareness creation on disabilities, and the provision of adequate educational and social services for people with disabilities. These calls have resulted in the creation of more special schools, unit and inclusive schools. However, the reality on the ground today still shows a huge discrepancy between needs and available services and resources.

Although the new Ghana Education Reform 2007 made provisions for addressing these inadequacies, the World Bank (2010) reported that teach- ing quality and educational and curriculum access is still a huge problem across the Ghanaian education sector. Kuyini and Desai (2008) found in a study of instruction in inclusive classrooms that teachers demonstrated more generic teaching practices and few adaptive teaching practices designed to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities. Indeed teachers were found not to be providing the individual support to students with disabilities in the generally overcrowded classrooms to allow them to achieve meaningful educational outcomes (Kuyini & Desai, 2008). Given

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these realities Agbenyega and Deku (2011) concluded that current pedago- gical practices are prescriptive, mechanistic, and do not value student diver- sity and different learning styles. Agbenyega and Deku recommended that ‘Teacher training institutions in Ghana need to design inspiring pre-service and in-service programmes that engage learners in problem-based learning communities, transforming their understanding and experience of learning, teaching and inclusive practice…inspire transformational learning in stu- dent teachers by structuring learning opportunities and experiences that respond to the student’s home culture …’ (p. 21). Such training will empower students to become critical thinkers while creating teachers that will adequately value and celebrate diversity, and difference.

Another dimension in relation to quality of teaching in inclusive class- rooms has to do with high teacher attrition in Ghana (Cobbold, 2006). For some time now, many teachers have been leaving the system to join other sectors of the economy due to low incomes in the teaching sector. This trend implies that the aim of government to train teachers to meet expand- ing education demand is therefore rendered more difficult to attain. In respect of inclusive teacher skills, this often means that pre and in-service training is being provided to teachers who are unlikely to stay in the system long enough to exert positive influences on student outcomes. In other words, students with special needs are less likely to receive adequate sup- port in regular classrooms and correspondingly are more likely to achieve significantly lower school outcomes than their peers.

CONCLUSIONS

Special Education in Ghana has progressed from an activity confined to Christian Missions in the early part of the 20th century to one, which the government of Ghana considers an essential component of the education system. The creation of units for special education has helped the develop- ment of policies and programmes to advance and address the essential needs of students with disabilities. The Education Strategic Plan (ESP) of the Ministry of Education has adopted inclusive education as the main pol- icy to inform the future direction of special education and this has culmi- nated in the progressive expansion of inclusive schools with the aim of achieving national coverage by 2015. While it is evident now that this goal is unlikely to be achieved due to the slow pace of establishing more inclu- sive schools, it is worth noting the effort that Ghana has made to improve on educational provisions for students with special needs.

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