Assessment of Teacher competencies in handling physically challenged pupils in public primary schools in Kericho County

Abstract

The process of having inclusive education in Kenya has been very slow for children with special needs yet many of these children are still at home and have attained school going age. The purpose of this study was to assess teacher competencies in handling physically challenged pupils in public primary schools in Kericho County. The study was informed by Lev Vygotsky Social–Cultural Constructivism Theory. The study utilized a descriptive survey design. The objective of the study was to assess the level of competence of the teachers to handle the physically challenged pupils in public primary schools. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. The target population was composed of 214 teachers. A sample size of 42 teachers were used. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the study sample. The data collection instruments used were the questionnaire and interviews. Spearman rank order correlation was then be used to compute the correlation coefficient in order to establish the reliability of the instrument .The instrument got a coefficient of 0.87. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer programme and presented using tables, pie charts, bar graphs, frequencies and percentages to form part of the descriptive statistics. The study found that many of the teachers, 29 (69%), teaching in the public primary schools have not undergone training on Special Needs Education (SNE). The recommendation is that the government should provide in-service training to all the teachers teaching in public primary schools on how to handle physically challenged pupils. This will therefore make public primary schools inclusive to all learners.