Academic Barriers That Prevent the Inclusion of Learners With Visual Impairment in Ethiopian Mainstream Schools

This article explored the academic barriers that prevent the inclusion of learners with visual impairment in mainstream schools. It is a purposive study that was conducted in two schools in Tigray Regional State in Ethiopia. The data were collected through interviews and focus group discussions from...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:SAGE Open 2022-04, Vol.12 (2)
Main Authors: Negash, Kahsay Hailu, Gasa, Velisiwe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Blindness
Braille
Education
Foreign Countries
Inclusion
Mainstreaming
Schools
Secondary School Students
Students with Disabilities
Visual impairment
Visual Impairments
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article explored the academic barriers that prevent the inclusion of learners with visual impairment in mainstream schools. It is a purposive study that was conducted in two schools in Tigray Regional State in Ethiopia. The data were collected through interviews and focus group discussions from 2 school principals, 4 teachers, and 12 learners with and without visual impairment. The findings reveal a lack of books in braille, a shortage of computers with “Job Access With Speech” (JAWS) software, few audio-recorded materials, and minimal curriculum adaptation to suit learners with visual impairments. It was discovered that these academic barriers affect the teaching and learning as well as the implementation and actualization of inclusive education. Therefore, this article calls for the Ministry of Education (MoE), schools, communities, governmental, and non-governmental organizations to intervene and ensure the balance between accessibility of education and availability of resources to cater to all learners with visual impairments.
ISSN:2158-2440
2158-2440
DOI:10.1177/21582440221089934