Schooling children with disabilities during COVID-19: Perspectives of teachers and caregivers in Ethiopia

• Published in: Disability & society 2024-07, Vol.39 (6), p.1402-1422
• Main Authors: Taneja-Johansson, Shruti, Singal, Nidhi, Mergia, Aemiro Tadesse, Side, Ali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: caregiver; Caregivers; Children; Children with disabilities; COVID-19; disabilities; education; Education policy; Education reform; Emotional well being; Emotions; Ethiopia; Learning; Motivation; Pandemics; Parent-child relations; Pedagogik; Pedagogy; People with disabilities; Return to school; School attendance; Schools; teacher; Teachers; Telephone surveys; Well being
• ISSN: 0968-7599; 1360-0508; 1360-0508
• DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2022.2156849

This paper provides insights into the experiences of children with disabilities in an Ethiopian context during prolonged school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on data gathered through telephone surveys from parents of children with disabilities who had been attending school prior to closures and teachers working in different educational settings, we discuss children's learning journeys during closures, motivations to return to school and the implications of this on current educational reform efforts in Ethiopia. Our findings highlight the significant merits of including children with disabilities explicitly in wider education reform efforts; the many positive gains seen in parental desires to send their child back to school; and the need to recognize and strengthen the role of schools as spaces for promoting children's socio-emotional well-being. Schooling of children with disabilities in Ethiopia was significantly impacted due to the lack of accessible learning materials available at home and in schools Caregivers expressed that returning to school was a strong priority for their child with disabilities Teachers and caregivers noted significant negative impact of closures on children's social and emotional well-being, with many reporting heightened feelings of sadness, loneliness, isolation, and diminished interest in learning and playing among their children. Caregivers and teachers felt that more could be done to support families and schools during such times, especially with better allocation of resources.