Abstract
Disability creates considerable social, economic and emotional cost to persons with disabilities, their family and to the wider community. The burden falls disproportionately on those in the developing world where disabled persons often live without dignity, victimized by beliefs that they are possessed by evil spirits or proof of divine retribution. The situation of children with disabilities in Ethiopia is even more worst. They face considerable social, economic and emotional problems.
Even though education for all is the motto, the practice of the right for education, the right to equality of opportunity and the right for participation of children with disabilities in society are very limited.
In Ethiopia there are about 5.3 million persons with disabilities. Among these only 0.7% have educational services. Education of children with disabilities has many challenges in the country, The community has negative attitude on the causes of child disability, on the potential of children with disabilities, on the benefit of inclusive education and generally on the rehabilitation of children with disabilities.
Thus the community prefers to hide them or send them to places where their origin can not be stressed easily or live by begging rather than sending their children to schools. On the other hand even those who got the chance to join special schools are not getting appropriate support and benefiting from the integration into the education system. Here children with disabilities are put in separate classes with assigned teachers who are trained with basic skills to work with children with disabilities. Children in this situation are more segregated and frustrated.
In some schools inclusive education is under practice. Even here the school environment is not conducive for inclusive education. In one class there are more than 100 children. This makes the teaching learning process more difficult even for the non-disabled children. The teacher will not be in a position to attend the individual problem and interest. He might not be given especial training to educate and assist children with disability or he might not be motivated. In this condition the schools are not willing to absorb more children with disabilities as possible informal education system.
Because of these and other reasons involvement of children within the formal education system is limited in Ethiopia.
1. Socio-economic situation of Ethiopia
According to the Central Statistics Authority (CSA) projection for the year 2000, Ethiopia has a population of 63,494,702 (50.2% male and 49.8% female). As it is the case with most developing countries, Ethiopia is characterised by high fertility rate and a young population. Children below the age of 15 years comprise 43.8% (CSA, 1998).
On average some 60% of the population live below the absolute poverty line. Eighty five percent of the population live in rural areas detached from much of the benefits and amenities such as communication, transportation, and certain advanced! technological facilities could bring (APAP, 1996: 2).
The Ethiopian economy basically depends on agriculture. Coffee is the main export item generating around 60% of the country's foreign exchange earnings (ANPPCAN, 1994: 2; APAP, 1996). The performance of the agricultural sector of the country's economy has been far from satisfactory, as it is characterised by a decline and stagnation. Various but intricate factors account for the ill performance of the country's economy. The principal factors are the inept policies followed the expensive and recurrent civil wars, the frequently changing weather condition, the inefficient and ineffective economic governance and the drastic swing of international prices of major export commodities (ANPPCAN, 1994).
The starting age for a compulsory education is seven years. Nevertheless, the total proportion of children enrolled at this age is only 9.1 percent (CSA, 1994). The rest of the children are out of school. There is a huge difference in the level of participation between urban and rural areas. That is, the enrolment ratio for urban areas is 52.3% while for rural areas the proportion is 3.3% (CSA, 1994: 3). There is a slight difference in the level of enrolment between the sexes in favour of males. However, the gap becomes more significant with an increase in age. According to IJNDP (1995), the gross enrolment ratio for Ethiopia is 14% and primary education participation is less than 30%. The unemployment rate of the country was found to be 2.9%. However the rate is significantly large in urban areas as compared to rural, 22% and 0.7%, respectively (CSA, 1994).
Significant proportions of families live in destitution and deprivation. There are many women headed families, which is the direct consequence of the civil strife that claimed the lives of many men. The women face various difficulties in their attempt to sustain their families and make ends meet (ANPPCAN, 1994). According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA, 1995), there are an estimated number of 4 million children who live in especially difficult circumstances. Street children comprise about 100,000 of these children. In 1992 Peter Tacon, UNICEF consultant, estimated that about one million urban children were found on the verge of joining street life.
According to the population and housing census conducted in 194 by Central Statistical Authority the number of disabled Ethiopians is 991917, which approximate about 2% of the total population. Although no national survey of disabled children has been made in Ethiopia, it is thought that less than on percent of the school age children receive special education services. Out of 2,73 million disabled children, only 1860 of them enrolled in special education programmes. This is about 0.07% of the total disabled school age children in the country. This figure indicated that the great majority of handicapped children hove no access to special education. They face considerable social, economic and emotional problems.
2. Community Beliefs and Educational Opportunities of CWDs
Disability creates considerable social, economic and emotional cost to Persons with disabilities, their family and to the wider community. The burden falls disproportionately on those in the developing world where disabled persons often live without dignity, victimised by beliefs that evil spirits or proof of divine retribution possesses them.
Even though, "Education for All by the year 2000 -Dakar Framework for Action" has been signed by the Ethiopian government, the practical implementation is far from desired. Among the 5.3 million persons with disability only 0 .7% has access to educational services. Education of children with disabilities has many challenges in the country. The participation rate of children with disabilities both in special schools and special classes is negligible when compared to the number of children with disabilities in school age bracket. According to statistical report of the Ministry of Education (MOE: 1997), there are seven residential special schools, eight-day special schools and forty-two special classes. The reason for the stagnation in growth of special schools in Ethiopia for the last forty years, which in most cases, were initiated by missionaries, can mainly be attributed to financial constraints as well as attitudinal factors.
The community give distorted explanations about the causes of child disability, the potential of children with disabilities, the benefit of inclusive education and the rehabilitation of children with disabilities. Thus many families of the community prefer to hide them or send them to places where their origin can not be stressed easily or live by begging rather than sending their children to schools. On the other hand even those who got the chance to join special schools are not getting appropriate support and benefiting from the integration into the education system. Here children with disabilities are put in separate classes with assigned teachers who are trained with basic skills to work with children with disabilities. Children in this situation are more segregated and frustrated.
There are signs of practice in the inclusive education in some schools. Even here the school environment is not conducive for inclusive education. More than 100 children are enrolled in a single classroom. This makes the teaching-learning process more difficult even for the non-disabled children. The teacher finds it extremely difficult to attend individual problems and interests.
Snap studies indicate that teachers are unable to provide special attention to educate, motivate and assist children with disability. Some schools are not willing to absorb as many children with disabilities as possible in formal education system. These and other reasons block the involvement of children within the formal education system.
As mentioned earlier, children attending special schools and classes include the deaf, the blind and the mentally retarded; the number of students served is about 2,276 (MOE, 1997). Children who fall in the age bracket between 5 and 19 constitute about 37.4% (23,058,825) of the total population of Ethiopia (CSA, 1998). As per the estimation of the national base-line survey of persons with disabilities constitute about 2.95% of the total population (Tirussew et al., 1995). Of the 691,765 children with disabilities in the school age bracket in the country only 0.33% have access to special schools and classes at primary and secondary levels. From the figures the education systems of the country has failed to reach and serve over 99% of school age CWDs.
3. The Concept of Inclusive Education
Inclusive education means welcoming all children, without discrimination, into regular or ordinary schools. Indeed, it is a focus on creating environments responsive to the differing developmental capacities, needs, and potentials of all children. Inclusion means a shift in services from simply trying to fit the child into 'normal settings'; it is a supplemental support for their disabilities on special needs and promoting the child's overall development in an optimal setting (Evans J.L, 1998). It calls for a respect of difference.
Therefore, the task becomes one of developing the school in response to pupil's diversity. This has to include a consideration of overall organization, curriculum and classroom practice, support for leaning and staff development (Ainscow, 1997). It does not mean that we should cease to identify and refer to the disabilities of the learners, or to provide particular kinds of support when and where needed. It does mean that we should cease perceiving learners as all being similar because they are referred to by the same name (Bridge and Moss, 1999).
Inclusive education implies that education is about learning to live and learn together with each other (Cleaesson, 1995). Central to the present thinking is the approach towards learning, which is termed as "inclusive learning", a move away from labeling the student and towards creating special educational environment; concentrating or understanding better how people learn so that they can be better helped to learn; and see people with disabilities and/or learning difficulties first and foremost as learners (Tomlinson J., 1996). The Salamanca Statement and Frame for Action on Special Needs Education (UNESCO, 1994) provides the clearest and most unequivocal call in articles 2 and 7 towards the inclusive approach.
Indeed, there are some children with severe disabilities for whom it would be extremely difficult to create a truly inclusive educational environment; it would neither benefit the child nor others in the setting. However, this does not mean that the child should be segregated and isolated from all life in the community. There should be a range of inclusive settings whereby the child can feel included and be best served. Such settings could be arranged within the school premises, family circles, at community gatherings, at sports events, religious services and other recreation centers which are likely to ensure the opportunities for social interaction (Evans IL, 1998).
4. Challenges of Inclusive Education
The real challenge of inclusive education is to meet the special needs of all children with and without disabilities (Kajubi, 1999). Inclusion is not a soft process. It requires a lot of struggle and commitment to overcome all types of barriers mainly attitudinal and social. Inclusive education can only flourish in a system, which generates inclusive ideology. People have to change their established beliefs, practices and modes of working.
Indeed, practical problems could be encountered while including children with diverse educational needs. But oftentimes the practical difficulties have more to do with bringing attitudinal change and the reorganization of learning environments and school activities, with the reallocation of money and resources than with the needs of children.
Many determinant factors affect and regulate the development of inclusion. Limited understandings of the concept of disability, negative attitude towards persons with disabilities and a hardened resistance to change are the major barriers impeding inclusive education (IDDC, 1998). Of particular concern is the fact that teachers' attitudes are seen as the decisive factors for successful inclusion. Inclusion has been based on the assumption that teachers are willing to admit students with disability into regular classes and be responsible for meeting their needs. However, regular classroom teachers do not perceive themselves as having the appropriate training and skills to meet the instructional needs of students with disabilities (Moberg, 1997). Unfortunately, evaluation studies indicate that teachers do not always have the support they need to make inclusion successful.
In some schools, regular teachers are asked to teach special needs students without receiving any form of training as well as administrative assistance. Without support, teachers who do not have sufficient background knowledge in special education are at a loss. An inclusive education demands the class teacher to be innovative, flexible, creative, ready to learn from the learners and capable of imtiating active learning. The development of an inclusive educational policy, curriculum and teacher training programs are frontiers of challenges encountered in course of implementing inclusive education. Generally, the challenge towards inclusive education could emanate from different directions such as attitudinal factors, rigid school system, and resistance to change, lack of clear educational guideline, and fear of losing one's job on the part of special schoolteachers.
Pockets of success
Special needs provisions and rehabilitation would be more effective in their immediate environment rather than in institutions or special schools which are inaccessible due to their locations, which may be hundreds of miles away from home (Eleweke, 1998). The need to make a shift to inclusive education is a logical choice to overcome practical problems faced in educating children with disabilities in the country.
Pockets of successful inclusive education attempts with children having visual impairment and mental retardation in one government primary school (Gilnesh and Tibebu, 1999) and German Church Primary School (Dagne, 2000) in Addis Ababa were reported. Further more, a study conducted on blind students integrated in Mulugeta Gedle School at Sebeta showed positive experiences on the part of the teachers, sighted students as well as blind students. However, shortage of adapted materials, inconvenient school environment and lack of back-up support were considered as obstacles encountered in course of their education (Teferi, 1996). These all are the beginnings of the positive indications of the movement towards inclusive schooling.
5. Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1. Conclusion
Quite a significant number of children and families live in destitution in Ethiopia, being one of the least developed countries. Lack of access to services in the communities as well as the unwell-coming social, emotional and physical environments become the greatest challenges to families rearing children with disabilities.
The absence of inclusive opportunities makes it extremely difficult for guardians and the children's future adult life where they can be empowered to deal with the challenges of life.
5.2. Recommendations
The teachers need to be equipped with the concept of inclusive education in order to understand the differences between children. Such opportunities would help teachers understand that all children can learn if they are given the chance.
Next to teacher competence, the availability of appropriate support ranks high in the list of factors affecting teacher's ability to educate pupils with special needs in regular schools. The requisite support can be provided from within the school or by external staff. If regular schools are not resourced accordingly, teachers find it extremely difficult to discharge their responsibilities and buildup positive attitudes toward such children. Though the socio-economic conditions of the country deter, greater efforts must be thought to this end using different strategies with the available local resources.
Many disabilities, including emotional problems, result from environmental influences. Early in life, the incompleteness of brain development makes it very open to the influence of experience and culture. Change in course of children's development results from reciprocal transactions of the biologically maturing organism with the social and physical environment. The integration of diverse research findings provides a coherent and comprehensive view of early development as a foundation for early intervention (Anastasiow and Nucci, 1994).
Furthermore studies indicated that the success of the inclusive schools depends considerably on early identification, assessment and stimulation of the very young child with special educational need. Programs at this level should recognize the principle of inclusion and be developed in a comprehensive way by combining early childhood establishments available in the neighborhood as early as possible in order to enhance the unfolding of their potentials.
Organizing Special Class
In general, studies suggest that the effects of special classes in regular schools do not look very promising. Students with special educational needs stick together and do not play and talk with other students because both groups follow instructions together for only a limited number of hours even; teachers stay apart. Establishing special classes in regular schools is not always an inclusive measure; it may even lead to an increase of segregation.
Special classes should be given for a limited in time and should not exceed 60 percent of the school time .It should be focused on special skills training (for the blind such as Braille reading and writing and mobility) as well as providing tutorials for those who need it (Meijer et al., 1995). The special educator can use the special class as a resource and consultation center for the class teacher, parents as well as students with disabilities.
The involvement of parents is very essential. Empirical studies indicate that for desirable partnership to prevail between teachers, parents and guardians, a mutual sharing of knowledge, skills, experiences and decision-making is required (Semakula, 1999). There is a need to involve parents/guardians in deciding the long-term and short-term objectives of the educational programs to be based on not only on the child's interest and abilities, but also the families' priorities. Although many parents look forward to enrolling their children with disabilities in a regular pre-school or school program, the child's inclusion may precipitate in certain concerns. A significant issue for parents is whether their children will receive the special support needed to be successful.
Parents as well as other family members can be trained to use special strategies to facilitate and promote the overall development of children with disabilities during their day-to-day encounters at home. In a country like Ethiopia where the magnitude of the problem is broad and the number of trained personnel in the field is negligible, the involvement of parents is of utmost importance. Obviously, positive parental attitude to schooling will provide a sound foundation for improving children's learning.
It is also important to note that parents need to be encouraged to promote the participation of their children with disabilities with peers at home-based informal play-groups, in play activities with individual children in the neighborhood, or in organized group-programs in their community.
Extra-curricular activities for all children are essential. This may include organizing field trips and visits and formations of clubs like for example, music, art, photography, debate, natural science, research, drama and other recreational programs. This is an important parameter not only for promoting inclusion out side the classroom among students but also for unfolding of the diverse potentials and talents of both children with and without disabilities. Such a habit needs to be nurtured right at primary school level so that children will be used to wisely spending their out of school time.
Finally, undertaking a pilot study on inclusive education in selected schools is envisaged to be helpful to know the practical problems and make the necessary adjustments before embarking on inclusive programs at once all over the country. Furthermore, such sites could also be used as demonstration centers for experience sharing among teachers, professionals as well as parents.
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