Quality of Education offered to Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in the era of Free Primary Education (FPE) in Rural Kenya: Perspectives of Educationists, Teachers and Parents

<p>The education of children with special educational needs (SEN) has been a focus of international inquiry. There is a strong advocacy for the inclusion of children with SEN in regular schools although this remains contentious and challenging. Despite an emphasis by the Kenyan government that children with SEN should be included in regular schooling, there has not been substantial investigation especially in rural settings on how these children can receive quality education. This thesis seeks to address this issue by exploring the perspectives of educationists, teachers and parents on the quality of education offered to children with SEN in the era of free primary education in a rural setting. A qualitative interpretive approach to research was used to generate data through interviews with government officials, teachers and parents, focus group discussions with regular teachers and observations in three schools spread over three rural districts. Thematic analysis was employed in analysing the data. A critical theory approach focussing on social justice and rights of children as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was used as a lens. The findings revealed that despite policy articulation, children with SEN occupied the role of “others” in schools and the society and were described in negative terms. Participants, especially regular staff and parents were emphatic that children with SEN required “experts” and “special” resources both of which were not available in regular schools. The participants felt that the available curriculum was relevant for “normal” children and therefore could not meet the educational needs of children with SEN. The broad conclusion drawn from this study is that there is need to distinctly define the terms inclusive education, special education and mainstream education in a way that the core stakeholders can understand, interpret and implement within their contexts. Designing a means of progress monitoring other than national examinations may help motivate both regular teachers and parents to see the need to have children with SEN in regular schools. There is need for further investigation on how regular teachers can be persuaded from existing beliefs that they are not qualified to teach children with SEN and how to convince parents that their children are worthy of an education.</p>

Quality of Education offered to Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in the era of Free Primary Education (FPE) in Rural Kenya: Perspectives of Educationists, Teachers and Parents

<p>The education of children with special educational needs (SEN) has been a focus of international inquiry. There is a strong advocacy for the inclusion of children with SEN in regular schools although this remains contentious and challenging. Despite an emphasis by the Kenyan government that children with SEN should be included in regular schooling, there has not been substantial investigation especially in rural settings on how these children can receive quality education. This thesis seeks to address this issue by exploring the perspectives of educationists, teachers and parents on the quality of education offered to children with SEN in the era of free primary education in a rural setting. A qualitative interpretive approach to research was used to generate data through interviews with government officials, teachers and parents, focus group discussions with regular teachers and observations in three schools spread over three rural districts. Thematic analysis was employed in analysing the data. A critical theory approach focussing on social justice and rights of children as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was used as a lens. The findings revealed that despite policy articulation, children with SEN occupied the role of “others” in schools and the society and were described in negative terms. Participants, especially regular staff and parents were emphatic that children with SEN required “experts” and “special” resources both of which were not available in regular schools. The participants felt that the available curriculum was relevant for “normal” children and therefore could not meet the educational needs of children with SEN. The broad conclusion drawn from this study is that there is need to distinctly define the terms inclusive education, special education and mainstream education in a way that the core stakeholders can understand, interpret and implement within their contexts. Designing a means of progress monitoring other than national examinations may help motivate both regular teachers and parents to see the need to have children with SEN in regular schools. There is need for further investigation on how regular teachers can be persuaded from existing beliefs that they are not qualified to teach children with SEN and how to convince parents that their children are worthy of an education.</p>

Közoktatás Szingapúrban = Public education in Singapore

Az 1965-ben függetlenné vált Szingapúrban azonnal bevezették a 6 osztályos kötelező elemi iskolai oktatást – angol nyelven, ami akkor elsősorban az egységes szingapúri identitás megteremtésének eszköze volt. Az angol fokozatosan a teljes oktatási rendszer nyelvévé vált, s a közoktatás folyamatos bővítése mellett a fő hangsúlyt a matematika és a természettudományok oktatására helyezték. Szingapúr városállam, ahol a függetlenség elnyerése óta folyamatosan politikai egypárt-rendszer működik. Ebből adódóan az oktatási rendszer – a tanárképzéstől és -továbbképzéstől a tantervekig és az egyes tananyagokig – erősen centralizált. Mivel az oktatás tervezése a kezdetektől a makrogazdasági tervezés szerves része, a szingapúri oktatási rendszer rugalmasan illeszkedik a gazdasági stratégia változásaihoz. A szingapúri oktatási rendszer alapvetően angolszász típusú, s az ország gazdaságpolitikájának megfelelően folyamatosan igazodik a globális gazdasági és oktatási trendekhez. A szingapúri közoktatás nemzetközi összehasonlításban is különösen sikeres – ezt a továbbtanulási arányok és a PISA-felmérésekben elért kiemelkedő eredményei is tükrözik. = After its independence in 1965, Singapore immediately introduced six years long compulsory and free primary education in English. Teaching in English aimed creating a unified Singaporean identity. English gradually became the working language of the entire education system. Alongside a steady expansion of public education, the main emphasis was placed on mathematics and science. Singapore is a city-state, featuring a one-party political system since its independence. Consequently, its education system, including teacher training and in-service training to curricula and individual teaching materials, is highly centralised. Since education planning has been an integral part of macroeconomic planning, the education system in Singapore has been flexibly aligned to changes in economic strategy. Singapore's education system is essentially Anglo-Saxon and has been constantly adapted to global economic and educational trends just like the country's economic policy. Singapore's public education system is particularly successful by international standards, as reflected by the high share of students continuing studies in higher-level educational institutions as well as by Singapore’s outstanding rankings in the PISA surveys.

Influence of Implementation of the Government Policies on Transition Rate of ECDE Children from Public Preschools to Public Primary School in Kapseret Sub County; Uasin Gishu County

A child’s transition from public preschool to primary is not a single event of change that has only immediate consequences but has its effects on transition rate. The purpose of this study was to assess influence of implementation of the government policies on transition rate of ECDE children from public preschools to public primary school in Kapseret Sub County; Uasin Gishu County. The study was guided by Jean Piaget’s Construvist theory. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The researcher sampled 171 respondents; including 86 Grade one; two; three teachers; 57 preschool teachers; and 29 headteachers. The research instruments used were questionnaires and interview schedule. The analysis of data was done using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Data from questionnaires was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative method involved descriptive and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis such as frequencies; percentages were used to present quantitative data in form of tables. Qualitative data from interview schedules were analyzed thematically based on the content of qualitative data and then presented in prose form. The findings were presented in frequency distribution tables. The study findings indicated that implementation of government policies has a positive and significant influence on leaners transition. The study concluded that free primary education policy has improved learners’ transition rate to Grade one. Adoption of Early Years Education Policy has influenced transition to Grade one. Finally; free primary education policy has increased the number of learners in public pre-primary school. The study recommends that primary schools should implement all the government policies by preparing Early Child Development (ECD) children in terms of classrooms; toilets; furniture and adequate qualified teachers.

Taha Hussein and the Development of Education in Egypt

Taha Hussein is one of the greatest thinkers of Egypt, who was provided with high intelligence and extensive knowledge in different areas. Formation of his personality coincided with the dramatic moments in the history of the country associated with the British occupation of Egypt. The author of paper traces the role of T. Hussein in the development and reform of education in Egypt in the early thirties of the 20th century. Moreover, the author analyzes the pedagogical concepts of T. Hussein, i. e. the idea of the democratization of education and overcoming the inertia of public consciousness, which blocked the creative development of the individual. As the Minister of Education of Egypt, T. Hussein was able to implement a number of his ideas on the progress and reform of education, the most important of which was the establishment of free primary education for all segments of the population, regardless of social status and material welfare.

Education Opportunities and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Bagamoyo District Tanzania

Education is a fundamental and universal basic need for all, especially orphans and vulnerable children in Tanzania. Education imparts knowledge, skills, and competencies to individuals. This study assessed educational opportunities and the support available to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Bagamoyo District to determine socioeconomic and psychological factors that limit access to education. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, non-participant observation and documentary review. The study involved 102 orphans and vulnerable children aged between 7 and 15 years and 35 adults key informants aged 25 years and above. The findings showed that OVC had access to free primary education but had limited access to secondary education. Access to education among OVC was constrained by limited and unreliable sources of funds to meet the necessary basic needs and school requirements including food, learning materials, school uniform, and fees. The findings show further that, OVC living in extended family experience more challenges compared to those staying in orphanage homes. OVC in the family and orphanage homes experience psychological challenges such as depression, loneliness, and stress. The study recommends that community programmes aimed at assisting orphans and vulnerable children should be strengthened to enable Orphanage homes and the extended family in taking care of orphans and vulnerable children. The relevant ministry (POR-LAG) should facilitate the availability of educational resources among orphans and vulnerable children to enable them to realise their educational goals.

Delivering Education to the Underserved through a Public-Private Partnership Program in Pakistan

We evaluate a program that recruited local entrepreneurs to open and operate new schools in 200 underserved villages in Sindh, Pakistan. School operators received a per-student subsidy to provide tuition-free primary education, and in half the villages received a higher subsidy for females. The program increased enrollment by 32 percentage points, and test scores by 0.63 standard deviations, with no difference across the two subsidy schemes. Estimating a structural model of the demand and supply for school inputs, we find that program schools selected inputs similar to those of a social planner who internalizes all the education benefits to society.