ISSUES EMERGING FROM INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PRACTICES IN PILOT BASIC SCHOOLS IN AGONA SWEDRU TOWNSHIP IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF GHANA

ABSTRACT 

This study examined the issues emerging from the inclusive practices in three pilot Basic schools in Agona Swedru Township in the Central Region of Ghana. The study considered teacher collaborations with parents who had children with special educational needs and other specialist, teacher preparation and experience, availability of resources and equipment and the physical environment of the inclusive schools under study. The reliability co-efficient of the instruments used in this study was 0.94. Questionnaire and semi structured interview guides were the main instruments used to collect data for this study. Simple random sampling was used to select teachers who took part in the study and purposive sampling for parents of children with special educational needs because they have information that was relevant to the study. Data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages and content analysis using themes and comments from questionnaires and interview data. Findings from the study revealed among others that: most parents were involved in decision making for their children with special educational needs in the three pilot inclusive schools in Agona Swedru township. Again some support services such as in class remedial teaching, sensory screening, and resource room clinical teachings were provided to children with special educational needs within the Pilot Inclusive Settings. Among the recommendations is the need for Stakeholders to provide support services as well as resources such as assistive devices and teaching and learning materials for all pilot basic inclusive schools for effective inclusion to take place. It was also recommended that the physical environment, or school building and compound of inclusive schools must be accessible to ensure easy movement in and around the schools.