Assessment of learners with special education needs in Rwandan inclusive secondary schools. A case study of selected schools in Kicukiro district.

Abstract

The concern of this study was to ascertain an assessment of learners with special education needs in Rwandan inclusive secondary schools. A case study of selected schools in Kicukiro District. Specifically, the objectives of this study were to find out whether the assessing methods used in special schools affect academic performance of learners with special needs, to investigate the challenges faced by teachers while assessing learners with special needs and to identify measures that school management have put in place to address academic challenges of learners with special needs. The study was guided by descriptive research design using quantitative and qualitative approaches. The population under study was 244 individuals including 4 secondary schools head teachers, 118 teachers and 122 learners’ special needs from those secondary schools of Kicukiro District. Purposive sampling technique was used to select learners and teachers. The district of Kicukiro was purposively selected because they have inclusive schools for learners with special educational needs. Data was collected by use of questionnaires and interview. The findings of the study showed that teaching and learning materials provided to learners with SEN were not enough compared to the numbers of users because learners with SEN usually share available learning and teaching materials and many failures caused by lack of teaching learning resources. Besides, the findings also highlighted that teachers encounter the problems of scarcity of teaching materials, sort the periods of teaching learners with visual impairments. Finally, the study revealed that there are some measures which should be taken into account where every staff member was involved in looking a solution through the system of team working; establishing regular budget to support special education field; adapting teaching/ learning contents for SEN provision of professional development course to staff to make refreshment about special methodologies to be applied to teach visually special learners; recruitment of teachers who are trained about special education; and digital library. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education should allocate a budget to make major renovations and adaptations in the physical facilities of special schools to make it friendlier to learners with SEN and future research should be done on teaching methods of learners with special education needs in inclusive secondary schools.