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EFFECT OF AVAILABILITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN PRE-SCHOOL CENTERS IN PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA.
Abstract
Inclusive education is a process of adjusting the home, school and the larger community to accommodate persons with special needs. In respect to pre-school learners, it is a means by which centers accommodate all learners regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic challenges. UNICEF notes that some 150 million children with disabilities lack access to child care services, schools, recreation and other social services, and are likely to remain illiterate and untrained, ultimately unable to join the labor force. Children with special needs are still perceived negatively by society. Most of the learners with special needs do not enroll in pre-school centers in Port Harcourty and if enrolled, they drop out before the year ends as per the report from Education Office.
The study aimed at finding out whether availability of teaching and learning resources influenced implementation of inclusive education in pre-school Centers in Port Harcourty. Efforts have been made to integrate the learners with special needs although the programme has encountered a lot of challenges; policies have been put in place to provide for the achievement of universal education and the realization of vision 2030. However, Inclusive education experiences a pyramid of challenges at pre- school level in the world and Nigeria. The study employed descriptive survey research design. The target population was 134 head teachers in 134 pre-school centers, 402 pre-school teachers, 12 Education officers and 938 pre-school parents in Port Harcourty. Sample size was 40 pre-school centers and 40 head teachers which were randomly sampled to represent 30% of the centers. Further, 134 pre- school teachers and 270 pre-school parents were sampled through stratified random sampling and 12 Education Officers sampled by census sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires and observation checklists. Descriptive statistics of means, percentages and weighted averages was used in analyzing the data. Findings revealed that there were inadequate teaching and learning resources at pre-school centers in Port Harcourty. 78 percent of the respondents revealed that inadequate resources affected the implementation of inclusive education. The study recommends that adequate teaching and learning resources should be provided to ensure effective implementation of inclusive education and more funds to be allocated for procuring teaching and learning materials for Special Needs Education (SNE) learners.
Keywords: Inclusive education, teaching and learning resources, pre-school centers, learners with special needs, implementation