Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Segregated educational facilities for children suffering from impairments in existence since the 1930’s have been criticized as too costly, only accessible to few pupils, and leading to children encountering difficulty integrating in their communities and the general population. Inclusive mainstream education system has been touted as providing equity for all persons irrespective of their special needs, talents, backgrounds and levels of impairments. This study explores the school environment as well as the spatial experiences of thirty children with disabilities enrolled in seven piloted inclusive schools (with special educational resources) and of eleven students in seven purposively selected non-inclusive schools. After obtaining ethical clearance and preliminary fieldwork carried out in each school, the process began with audits which explored spatial obstacles in the school environment. The next process involved the administration of questionnaire to all forty-one pupils attending inclusive schools and non-inclusive schools to explore their socio-spatial experiences. These students included pupils with vision impairments, attention deficit, hearing impairment and autism. Finally, face-to-face interviews were carried out with seven pupils suffering and seven teachers to further explore issues emerging from the survey. The research found that, despite challenges identified in all the inclusive schools and non-inclusive schools alike in terms of the appropriateness of the approach routes, surfaces, lack of bi-directional doors, unsuitable furniture, and slippery surfaces, the inclusive schools provided better educational environment than their non-inclusive counterparts. This points to the need for the government to further implement the inclusive education program.