ANALYSIS OF LOCAL SYSTEMS’ CAPACITY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN GHANA: VIEWS OF COMMUNITY OPINION LEADERS

Abstract

This paper presents data from focus group interviews among community opinion leaders from eight purposefully selected districts in Ghana, which formed part of a nation-wide evaluation of local systems’ capacity for the implementation of inclusive education. Participants discussed issues relating to disability and traditional and national laws, and the rights children with disabilities. Content and thematic analyses were adopted to analyze the data. The findings revealed that traditional laws were undocumented and largely silent on issues relating to disability, with the exception of executives of the organizations of persons with disabilities, community opinion leaders were ignorant about national laws and policies on the right of children with disabilities. Participants raised concerns about demand-driven issues such as insufficient special needs educators, inadequate special schools, lack of assistive devices, specialized equipment and materials, and inaccessible environments. Additionally, supplyrelated issues including poverty and negative attitudes were also raised as barriers to education of children with disabilities in participants’ communities. The study concluded that there were gaps in local systems’ capacity for the implementation of inclusive education. It was therefore recommended among others that measures should be taken to develop the capacities of local systems to facilitate the implementation of inclusive education nation-wide.