WE BETTER OPT FOR SPECIAL SCHOOLS IN TANZANIA RATHER THAN INCLUSION

                    By Goodluck Kimambo

I always believe that “disability is an opportunity”. This is because the presence or absence of disability does not determine the quality of life.

One of the general teachers  among the government school in Mwanza region was quoted saying these words: “In this school we are facing an acute shortage of specialist teachers in sign language. We have two students (girls), one in form six and another in form five. They both pursue science subjects but we have no sign language interpreters to translate for them, though this is the government school. So in case of their studying they depend much in something fitted in their ears which look like earphone. They tend to deny someone especially teachers who are not conversant with their language". She continued "Myself I feel very bad but I have no choice. I feel to help them and in the coming year I will apply for studying the degree in special education. There is one University in Tanzania I heard, which offers a degree in special education in Tanga region. The university is known as Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University. Pray for me that I can get the chance there and then after three years I will be back to help learners with disabilities who will be enrolled in this school, with special reference to hearing impairment.”

From her conversation with me above, it seems that learners with hearing impairment enrolled to that sample school encounter huge problems during teaching and learning as well as social interaction with other members around them. The absence of specialist teachers in signing implies that, deaf students at that school are lacking the important aspect in learning which will result into poor academic achievement. 

She said that, “So in case of their studying they depend much in something fitted in their ears which look like earphone”. This implies that there are some general teachers who are not aware about special education/needs or inclusion. This goes against what literature says about the procedures to be followed before the establishment and implementation of an inclusive educational setting. A research by Berg Shannon (2004:40), recommended that, before any new inclusive programs developed and implemented, the building staff must agree on a clearly stated philosophy of education to all students. All teachers and support staff should be involved in any decision-making, planning and evaluation processes for students. Failure to involve all the stakeholders (school, parents, administrators and community as well as caregivers) must lead to poor participation and hence poor academic achievement for learners with disabilities. So all the stakeholders in general should not relent towards the building of inclusive societies hence reconciling with all learners and people in our societies.

Therefore, inclusive schools are not good, not suitable, not appropriate, and not acceptable; since they do not have enough specialized teachers, they lack inclusive buildings, they lack inclusive perspectives towards disability, and the learners with special needs are denied their rights to quality education.

References

Idahya S. (2014). Contemporary and comparative issues in education. Lushoto: Times Printing Company. 

Shanker, A. (1994-1995). Full inclusion is neither free nor appropriate. The Inclusive School, 54(4),retrieved March 8, 2003 fromhttp://ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/9412/shaker.html

UNESCO, (2005). Guidelines for Inclusion. France: Printed in the workshops of UNESCO.