Academic Impediments Students With Visual Impairments Encounter In The Colleges Of University Of Rwanda

ABSTRACT

The Purpose of this research was to investigate academic impediments students with visual impairments encounter in the colleges of the University of Rwanda. This study addressed the following objectives: the suitability of teaching methods used in colleges of the university of Rwanda to accommodate students with Visual Impairment; lectures ability to adapt to the learning/teaching resources available in public colleges to suit academic needs of students with visual impairments; determine the extent to which lecturers adapt the teaching/learning resources and examinations to suit the needs of students with visual impairment; how administrative staff facilitate the learning of students with visual impairments in inclusive colleges and how orientation and mobility affect the learning of students with visual impairments in inclusive colleges. The researcher used descriptive survey design. The study was carried out at the college of arts and social sciences in Huye District in the Southern Province and college of Education in Gasabo District in Kigali city. The target population was 1405 respondents who included deans of faculties, resource room managers, lecturers, all learners with visual impairments and all level four sighted learners. A sample size of 125 respondents was obtained through the use of purposive sampling, stratified random sampling and snow ball methods. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data. Content validity was tested to ascertain whether the item s in the questionnaires were suitable for their task. The correlation indicated that there was a strong positive correlation between two tests of scores where r=0.829 for the lecturers questionnaire and 0.801 for the students questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings showed that majority of respondents confirmed that the curriculum was not adapted, learning resources which aid in the learning of students with visual impairment were not available and the learning resources available and examinations were not adapted by the lecturers to suit the needs of students with visual impairment. Staff development was done in other areas but inclusive education was still at a very low level and majority of the students with visual impairment were not trained in orientation and mobility and did not have white canes. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education should provide funds for organizing seminars and workshops in the area of the SNE to allow lecturers to be able to teach effectively. The University curriculum and the environment of the University should be adapted to accommodate students with VI.