Abstract

When the special needs of children with learning disabilities are not met, it can lead to scholastic backwardness and related psycho-socio problems. Hence, early identification by teachers is crucial. This study sought to determine ‘’Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Inclusion of Pupils with Disabilities in the Classroom in some Primary Schools in Fako Division South West Region, Cameroon’’.

In carrying out the study, 50 primary school teachers were purposively sampled through interviews guided structure questionnaire from government and lay private schools of Fako Division, followed by Statistical analysis in SPSS 21.0., to determine the attitudes of teachers toward the education of disabilities.

Reliability coefficient of the instrument of data was determine to be 0.76. Descriptive statistics such as Mean and Standard deviation of variables was obtained for variables in the questionnaire. Based on data analysed, findings revealed that (1) although teachers have positive attitudes towards pupils with disabilities, they were of the opinion that they should be educated in special schools since their needs can best be met there (II) teachers have concerns about the training that they (teachers) received since they find it difficult to meet the needs of children with disabilities in an inclusive setting (III) there are factors such as class size and inadequate learning/support materials which hinder the successful implementation of inclusive education in Fako Division.

The findings of the research highlight the need for bringing awareness to change the attitude towards inclusion and bringing children with learning disabilities into the educational mainstream. . As a recommendation, the government should train teachers who will be able to meet the needs of every child in an inclusive classroom. In addition, the school environment should be made eco-friendly and accessible to every pupil in school.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Education is critical to expanding the life prospects of everyone including people with disabilities. The socialization of children with disabilities (CWDs) through education assumes an unusually important role in societies where social exclusion of pupils with disabilities is significant. The National Policy on Education (2004) recognizes the importance of inclusion or integration of persons with disabilities.

This is to ensure that every child irrespective of his/her physical or mental ability has the right to education together with the normal children. Integration provides opportunities for all citizens, including pupils with disabilities to fully participate at all levels of the society. Recent moves towards the inclusion of pupils with disabilities in inclusive classrooms have focused attention on how teachers perceive these pupils, what constitutes the educational success of pupils with disabilities in inclusive classrooms, and the ability to provide effective instruction for them.

Lewis (1993) sees integration as a school and societal reform in the education of pupils with disabilities. Educating children with disabilities is essential for independent living, alleviation of poverty and sustainable development.

The impact of keeping disabled children at home and economically inactive, denying them education, as well as impacting family members who are unable to work due to caring responsibilities all contribute significantly to the impoverishment of persons with disabilities, their families and their communities.

At its most basic, equal treatment in education for pupils with disabilities involves equal access to educational opportunities. This means that if all pupils are treated equally without discrimination, making sure that the pupils with disabilities have access to the school environment and facilities, they will be able to complete school and get jobs for themselves without having to rely on others.

However, parents of children with disabilities have reported situations where their children are unable to start school with their peers at the beginning of the school year or are able to attend school only part-time because appropriate support and accommodation are not available (Lewis & Little, 2007). Furthermore, concerns have also been raised regarding negative attitudes and stereotypes regarding persons with disabilities on the part of educators and administrators.

These attitudes can pose a substantial barrier to pupils with disabilities, as well as creating in them an unequal education environment. Teachers are not provided with adequate training and in-class support for teaching children with disabilities (CWDs) and ensuring that they are integrated into mainstream classrooms in a respectful and dignified manner.

Many factors may affect teachers’ attitude towards the education of CWDs including the level of confidence they have to teach the children, the support they are receiving, and the opportunities for collaboration. Regular teachers’ attitudes reflect lack of confidence in their own instructional skills and quality of support personnel available for them (Avramidis et al, 2000). Providing teachers with support will improve the overall implementation of inclusion, making it more beneficial to the children.

It is important to identify teachers’ attitudes towards children with disabilities because it can dramatically affect their performance and success in the classroom since teachers are the key actors in implementing inclusive education. According to Avramidis et. al. (2000), “Professionals’ attitude may act to facilitate or constrain the implementation of policies.

The success of innovative and challenging programmes must surely depend upon the cooperation and commitment of those directly involved”. Soodak, Podell, and Lehman support this finding reporting, “Teachers who embraced the responsibility to be inclusive have also elevated the quality of instruction, and the instruction was deemed more effective than that of teachers who have dissimilar beliefs concerning inclusion” (as cited in Ryan, 2009).

1.1 Background To The Study

Prior to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (UDHR) which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in Addis Ababa in 1948, many pupils with disabling conditions were excluded from the benefit of a public education (Madaus; et.al., 1989).

Since most countries in the past exempted such pupils from compulsory attendance required by the early 1970s, courts began to recognize that the denial of special education services to the disabled constituted the denial of due process and equal protection. Once a state makes public education available to all learners, it must make equal educational opportunities available to all pupils (McCarthy and Cameron, 1981) as cited by Madaus, et.al (1989).

Philosophies regarding the education of children with disabilities have changes dramatically over the past two decades, and several countries have led in the effort to implement policies which foster the integration, and more recently, inclusion of these pupils into mainstream environments. Here, although the movement of inclusive education has gained grounds in recent years, a key element in the successful implementation of the policy is the views of the personnel who have the major responsibility of implementing it that is teachers.

It is argued that teachers’ beliefs and attitudes are critical in ensuring the success of inclusive practices since teachers’ acceptance of the policy of inclusion is likely to affect their commitment to implementing it (Norwich, 1994)

International bodies, governments, organizations have come to realize the importance of the education of each and every child irrespective of their needs and disabilities. The World Conference on Education for All (EFA) in Jomtien (1990) talked of getting all children to school and giving them the suitable education even though, practically, it did not include children with disabilities. In 1993, the standard rules on the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities came with a bright future for disabled persons.

It was not long in 1994 when the Salamanca Statement on Inclusive Education called for the education of each and every child irrespective of the disability, to be included in school and consideration was made as regards their individual need (UNESCO, 1994).

Many researches have been carried out on the implementation of the policy of inclusive education. Literature has shown that the success of inclusive education depends to a large extent on the willingness and the ability of teachers to make accommodation for individuals with disabilities (Heiman, 2004, Vaughn; et.al, 1996). Some studies also show that teachers who are aware of inclusive policy are willing to be part of the inclusive team while other studies found out that teachers agree that inclusion is important but many find it difficult to apply (Danne & Beirne-Smith, 2000).

In Cameroon, the enactment of the 1995 Education Forum organized by MINEDUC (1995) states that one of the social objectives is the eradication of all forms of discrimination on access to education. In addition, section 35 of Law No 98/004 of 14thApril 1998 to lay down guidelines for education in Cameroon states that “the physical and moral integrity of pupils shall be guaranteed with the educational system”.

Consequently, all forms of discrimination shall be proscribed (Tambo, 2012).Despite the awareness of the human rights educational laws and policies that govern the rights of all pupils to education, a lot of disabled pupils do not receive formal education in both public and private schools. Rather, the few who had the opportunity were isolated from the regular classroom setting to special education centers. Presently, a number of them do not still receive education in the regular education setting.

Decree No 90/1516 of 26 November 1990 to lay down the conditions for the implementation of law No 83/13 of 21 July 1983, revised in 2010, relating to the protection of disabled persons states that disabled children and adolescents shall be educated in normal and special educational establishments. The decree further states that children with disabilities including those with hearing, visual and mental deficiencies shall receive special education to enable them acquire the needed independence for their enrolment into normal schools. In addition, schools where disabled pupils are enrolled shall if necessary, have specialized staff and appropriate teaching aids for the education of such children.

In order to facilitate the access of disabled children into classrooms, the normal or regular schools which admit them shall as much as possible have the necessary facilities as provided for in article 35 of this decree which states that when carrying out studies on an executing low-cost housing project, the constructing authorities may make provisions for a number of specially designed infrastructures to be used by disabled students with reduced mobility or in wheelchairs.

Decree No 90/1516 of 26 November 1990 to lay down the conditions for the implementation of law No 83/13 of 21 July 1983 relating to the protection of disabled persons states that disabled pupils shall be allowed to repeat a class twice if their failure is as a result of their physical and mental condition. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 1948 made a number of assertions about the inalienable rights of every human being. The declaration guarantees for the individual a whole range of basic freedom of which education is one (Mbua, 2002). Article 26 of the declaration made the following assertions:

• Everyone has the right to education. This shall be free at least at the elementary and primary stages.
• Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children (Mbua, 2002).

When teachers have it in mind that everyone has the right to education, they will try to shape their behavior and put in their best to ensure that every child irrespective of their condition receives education freely.

In the 1995 Education Forum organized by MINEDUC, the first reason for the social objective of the forum was “the eradication of all forms of discrimination on access to education (Tambo, 2003). In 1993, the United Nation set Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for persons with disabilities (rule 6) stated that education should be provided in ‘an integrated school setting’ and ‘in the general school setting’.

In Cameroon in general and Fako Division in particular, children with disabilities are still considered as misfits in the society. Many of such children are found in our communities but we don’t find them in schools, and if some are found in there, many eventually drop out. Many teachers and school administrators turn to think that children with disabilities should be educated in special schools than in regular schools with their peers without disabilities.

Inclusive education is an educational system that values the strengths and weaknesses of each individual learner and seeks ways to ensure that each learner benefits from the educational system irrespective of their unique and diverse needs. Inclusive education believes that difference is normal and the school system should restructure itself to meet the unique and diverse needs of learners in the classroom. As long as the majority of children with disabilities are excluded from education, the EFA goals will not be met (Peters, 2003).

The Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994) promoted international commitments of inclusive education to meet the target of achieving EFA goals including children with disabilities (Eleweke and Rodda, 2002). It is not only focused on access to education but meaningful participation in an inclusive classroom. Inclusive education is recognized as part of the human right agenda in which the people have the right to access education as well as equitable right within education (Florian, 2008).

The government of Cameroon has been trying to prepare the ground for educating pupils with disabilities as advocated by UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) goals. This has been done through the organization of seminars and workshops within the country, signing and ratification of some legislations and policies internationally and locally. The University of Buea is also offering special education programs which take into account the focus on inclusive education. Based on the Republic of Cameroon (2013) report on the 53rd session of the African commission on human and people’s right of the African Union, Cameroon has signed a number of instruments to promote and protect the right of Persons with Disabilities (P.W.D).

This include the United Nation Convention on the right of people living with disabilities adopted in New York on 13th December 2006 and signed on 1st October 2008,the Optional Protocol to the United Nation Convention on the right of persons with disabilities adopted in New York on 13th December 2006 and signed on 1st October 2008. Among the legislative and regulatory text adopted at the local level to protect and promote human rights of PWD is law number 2010/002 of 13th April 2010 on the protection of PWD.

1.3 Statement Of The Problem

The global need for social justice and the respect of the human rights including the right to education of all persons is a major area of concern. The Cameroon government has made efforts in ratifying many laws and international conventions such as Education for All (EFA), 1990 and the Salamanca Statement of inclusion (UNESCO; 1990, 1994) among others.

Despite the existence and awareness of some national education laws, regulations and policies, practical experience has shown that there is a growing population of disabled pupils not attending school. There are many children who are not enrolled in school, and if found, eventually drop out before reaching primary six.

Without an education through schooling and effective learning, children with disabilities may not be able to contribute to their individual and societal development; consequently, they tend to rely on others. When these children are deprived of the right to education due to lack of learning support programmes, pupils with disabilities face segregation and discrimination in education which may affect their wellbeing and normal functioning and may lead to a state of perpetual dependency. Besides challenges experienced by learners, primary school teachers may lack adequate knowledge and skills to teach disabled pupils. In addition, teachers’ attitudes towards learners with disabilities may also contribute to school dropout as well as academic under-attainment of pupils with disabilities.

Akinlosotu and Nathaniel, (2017) pointed the following to be some of the disorders found in children with disabilities. (i) mental retardation, (ii) learning disabilities, (iii) emotional and behaviour disorder, (iv); communication disorders, (v) hearing loss, (vi) blindness and low vision, (vii) physical disabilities, (viii) autism, (ix) severe disabilities, (x) multiple disabilities, (xi) deaf/blindness, and (xii) gifted and talented. Scholars have argued that acceptance to include these category of students in a general class depends on teachers’ attitude towards special need students (Fakolade, Adeniyi and Tella, 2009; Florian, 2012; Dukmak, 2013).

Studies in Nigeria has shown that some teacher still have a negative attitude towards inclusion of children with learning difficulties in classroom (Moothedath et al., 2016). Teachers’ attitude has implications on student’s own attitude and their learning outcomes. A teacher’s attitude has the power to enhance or seriously harm the quality of life of students with disabilities. The integration of students with learning disabilities within the mainstream classroom depends on the teachers as they are considered as mediators in the inclusive education process (Campbell et al., 2003).

In this regard, this study aims at exploring the attitude of primary school teachers towards pupils with disabilities in the classroom in order to identify their negative and positive outcomes and make useful suggestions to help improve educational services.

1.4 Purpose Of The Study

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ attitude towards the education of pupils with disabilities in regular primary schools.

1.4.1 Specific Research Objectives

The specific research objectives of the study are to:

1. Identify the behavioral aspects of teacher attitudes towards the teaching of pupils with disabilities.
2. Examine teachers’ perception about teacher education/training towards teaching children with disabilities.
3. Identify factors that affect teachers’ attitude towards the education of pupils with disabilities.