A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS: A CASE STUDY OF RUIRU AND RARIEDA SUB-COUNTIES, KENYA

Abstract

Learners with disabilities have experienced a myriad of challenges in the education sector ranging from lack of access, inclusion and inadequate trained teachers with relevant skills to meet their unique educational needs. The Special Needs Education Policy (SNEP) was developed to enhance access, inclusion and teacher training of Special Needs Learners (SNLs) among other policy interventions. The policy seems to have not achieved these objectives as evidenced by unsatisfactory provision of education to people with disabilities in Sub-Counties like Ruiru and Rarieda and Kenya in general. This study conducted a comparative analysis of perceived effectiveness of the implementation of SNEP on access, inclusion and training of special needs education teachers between public secondary schools in Ruiru and Rarieda. The study adopted the causal comparative research design. The target population was 33 head teachers, 595 teachers and 261 SNLs. A sample of 10 principals, 82 SNLs and 57 teachers selected using purposive, stratified, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques participated in the study. Data was collected using Four instruments; the Principals’ Interview Guide (PIG), Teacher Questionnaire (TQ), Special Needs Learners Questionnaire (SNLQ) and an Observation Check List (OCL). Construct and face validity of these 4 instruments were checked by experts from the department of Psychology, Counseling and Educational Foundations, Egerton University. The reliability of the teachers’ and students’ questionnaire were estimated and found to be 0.835 and 0.799 respectively using Cronbach Alpha method. The method helped to ensure the items are related and measure the intended construct, contributing to the reliability of research findings. Statistical Package for Social Science version 25 was used to analyze the data. Quantitative and qualitative data was described and summarized by use of frequencies and percentages. Testing of Hypotheses at the .05 level of significance were done using the t-test. The findings showed that the difference in effectiveness of SNE policy in promoting SNLs’ access to education between Rarieda and Ruiru Sub-Counties was statistically significant, t (42) = 2.075, p = .044. However, the difference by Sub-County in effectiveness of SNE implementation in enhancing inclusion of SNLs in regular schools [t (42) = .601, p = .551)] and promoting professional training of teachers [t (42) = .084, p = .934] was not statistically significant. The study concluded that some improvements have been achieved in provision of education to SNLs. Improvement in access to education by SNLs in Ruiru was higher compared to Rarieda. However, inclusion of SNLs in regular schools and professional training of SNE teachers in Ruiru and Rarieda were comparable. The expectation is that the study findings would provide insight to the Education stakeholders on the strengths and the weaknesses of the SNE policy in promoting provision of education. Further the study findings is expected to be used as by researchers in the future as baseline data