Examining the Educational Access and Opportunity for Special Needs Students

Abstract

The study, examining educational access and opportunity for special needs students, a case study of a school for special need Birnin Kebbi was necessitated by worrisome statistics that abound about the physically challenged and the researcher’s personal experiences that disabled people hardly find a voice or position in the society and if any, only few in a thousand or even in a million. The study was aimed at examining educational access available to special need students in school for special needs Birnin Kebbi, to identify the opportunity available for special need in school for special need Birnin Kebbi, and to determine the institutional readiness toward inclusive education as a major theme in a global campaign for education of the handicapped. Relevant literature related to the study was reviewed. Both a retrospective case study and a descriptive research design were employed for the study and data was collected through a structured checklist and questionnaire that took the researcher a week to have them completely collected. The data was analyzed and presented on tables, charts and percentages. Findings from the analyzed and presented data revealed that there are excellent opportunities for special need students or the handicapped in the labour market in the area of teaching, entrepreneurship and gainful employment as well as sports. However, their educational process in attaining this opportunity is faced with challenges of equipment, shortage of qualified teachers and lack of adequate sponsorship especially from NGOs and well to do individuals in the society. The researcher however recommended urgent employment of qualified teachers, adequate supply of teaching equipments as enshrined in the National Policy on Education (NPE), active participation of NGO and well to do individuals in funding of the school and sponsorship of students to encourage them in furthering their education. The researcher finally recommended that higher institutions in Nigeria  be prepared to receive more students with disabilities as the study revealed that more handicapped/special need are seeking for education as shown in the students enrollment from 2013 to 2017 in the school for special need Birnin Kebbi.

Key word - Education, access, opportunity, special needs, inclusive education, students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

                                                                                                                                                                   

TITLE PAGE-----------i     

CERTIFICATION-----------ii

APPROVAL PAGE-----------iii

DEDICATION---------- -iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS----------v

TABLE OF CONTENTS---------- vi

LIST OF TABLES-----------vii

LIST OF CHART-----------viii

ABSTRACT------------ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study----------1

Statement of the Problem----------4

Significance of the study----------5

Objective of the study ----------5

Research questions -----------5

Scope and delimitation of the study ---------6

Operational definition of term---------7

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

The Concept of education----------8

Function of education----------10

The concept of special education. ---------15

Definition of special education---------17

History of special education----------18

Categories of special needs students---------22

The hearing impaired students/child ---------23

What can be done to help students with hearing loss------ 24

Visually impaired students/child---------25

Physically handicapped students/child--------34

Mentally retarded students/child---------35

How to educate the mentally retarded students-------38

The intellectually gifted students/child--------40 Educating the intellectually gifted students/child-------41

The emotionally disturbed students/child--------42

Educating the emotionally disturbed students/child-------45

Educational services for special needs students/child------49

Inclusive education-----------54

Opportunity for special needs students in the labour markets-----57

Theoretical framework----------59

Implication of the theory to special education-------61

Summary of literature review---------61

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD

Introduction ------------63

Research design -----------63

 Study Population-----------63

Sample and Sampling Techniques---------63

Instrument for Data Collection---------63

Method of data collection----------64

Validation of the Instrument----------65

Reliability of the Instrument----------64

 Method of Data Analysis----------65

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

Introduction ------------66

Demographic variables ----------66

Educational access and opportunity for special needs students-----70

Institutional readiness toward inclusive education for school of special needs Birnin Kebbi-79

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS,

IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

Introduction------------83

Discussion------------83

Conclusion------------87

Summary------------87

Recommendations-----------88 Suggestion for further study----------88

REFERENCES -----------89

APPENDIX ------------92

List of Tables

Table 4.0: Sex of respondents---------66 

Table 4.1: Age of respondents---------67

Table 4.2: Religion of respondents---------67

Table 4.3: Respondents qualification--------68

Table 4.4: Enrollment and dropout of special needs students from 2013-2017---70

Table 4.5: Number of teacher/qualification from 2013-2017-----71

Table 4.6: Teacher/students ratio---------71

Table 4.7: Source of fund for school of special needs Birnin Kebbi ----72

Table 4.8: Adequacy of funds---------73

Table 4.9: Categories of special needs students-------73

Table 4.10: Learning aids----------74

Table 4.11: Students – learning aids ratio--------75

Table 4.12: Students feeding----------76

Table 4.13: opportunity for students after graduation base on past experiences---76

Table 4.14: participation in sporting activities-------77

Table 4.15: Agencies that are available for sponsorship of special needs students---77

Table 4.16: Work opportunity for special needs students in the labour market---78

Table 4.17: perceived work opportunity for special needs children-----78

Table 4.18: parents can sponsor their children to any educational level----79

Table 4.19: teacher specialization in special education------79

Table 4.20: awareness of inclusive education-------80

Table 4.21: school readiness toward inclusive education------80

Table 4.22: Teacher experiences to handle children in an inclusive school---81

Table 4.23: Special salaries package for special needs educators-----81

Table 4.24: Perceived special needs educator sources of motivation----82

List of chart

Fig 4.0: Respondents number of years in services-------69

Appendix------------92