Institutional Factors Influencing Implementation of Inclusive Education in Public Secondary Schools in Makadara Sub County, Kenya

Abstract

Inclusive Education (IE) is a philosophy based in the principle that every school should be able to cater for all children including those with special needs. The purpose of this study was to investigate institutional factors influencing implementation of inclusive education in public secondary schools in Makadara sub-county. Objectives of the study were: to determine the influence of; school physical facilities, teachers’ attitude, teachers’ professional qualifications as well as assess the influence of availability of teaching and learning resources on inclusive education in public secondary schools. The study used a descriptive survey research design where the target population comprised of a principal, 48 teachers and 1200 students. Simple random sampling was applied to sample 120 students all 48 teachers were sampled. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequencies, percentages and multiple regression while data was presented using tables, pie charts and bar graphs. From the study it was established that; physical facilities had no significant effect on implementation of inclusive education p=0.151, teachers’ attitude had significant effect on implementation of inclusive education p=0.002, teachers’ professional qualifications had significant effect on implementation of inclusive education p=0.005 and shortage of teaching and learning resources had significant effect on implementation of inclusive education p=0.000. It was concluded that for implementation inclusive education to be successful, the learning environment must be restructured so as to be accessible to all learners; and teachers ought to have a positive attitude towards learners with special needs. This study recommends that: The Ministry of Education should organize for ways through which physical facilities should be availed in public secondary schools the facilities should also be adaptive to the children with special needs; there should be public sensitization about inclusive education by all stakeholders so that the learners should reap the benefits of inclusive education; the government should restructure teacher education in teachers training colleges so as to include special Needs Education course in the curriculum and education planners and technocrats should evaluate and assess the teaching and learning resources available and make more accurate estimates and allocations to the various requirements in the implementation of Inclusive Education.