Availability and Challenges of Inclusive Lower Primary Education Schools

Abstract

Despite the importance of inclusive education to children, parents, and society, it is worrisome. It is pertinent to note that there is paucity and no up-to-date literature on the availability of inclusive education schools, especially in Nigeria, as this call for a holistic investigation into the availability of inclusive education schools, especially at the lower primary education level. The research design for the study is Mixed methods (triangulation Quan + Qual). Data were collected from primary data sources mainly documents. The Inclusive Education Schools Availability Checklist (IESAC) was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics of simple percentages and thematic were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that inclusive education primary schools are available in Lagos while Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, and Ekiti do not have inclusive education primary schools. Lagos State has 31 inclusive education units, while Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, and Ekiti have no unit for inclusive education. It concluded that only Lagos State has a point for realizing and making education available to all children (able and special needs). Meanwhile, Lagos State is still faced with challenges such as underfunding, lack of adequate resources, and many others. Hence, the government at all levels should make provisions for the effective implementation of inclusive education policy through the establishment of inclusive education schools across the states.