Table of Content

TABLE OF CONTENT
Declaration............................................................................................................................ .i
Certificate of the approval.....................................................................................................ii
Dedication...............................................................................................................................iii
Acknowledge...........................................................................................................................iv
Abstract....................................................................................................................................v
Acronym...................................................................................................................................vi
CONTENT.............................................................................................................................1-4
CHAPTER ONE...................................................................................................................................5
Overview..............................................................................................................................................5
1.2 Background of the study...................................................................................................6
Purpose of the study................................................................................................................6
1.3 Statement of the study......................................................................................................6
1.4 Objectives of the study......................................................................................................6
1.5 Research Questions...........................................................................................................7
1.6 Significance of the study...................................................................................................7
1.7 Theoretical Framework.....................................................................................................7
1.7.1 Identification of learners needs.....................................................................................7
1.7.2 Appropriate instructional materials................................................................................8
1.7.3 Curriculum.....................................................................................................................8
1.8 Conceptual framework......................................................................................................8
1.9 Delimitation of the study...................................................................................................8
1.10 Limitation of the key terms.............................................................................................9
1.11 Definition of key terms....................................................................................................9
1.11.1 Learner ...........................................................................................................................9
1.11.2 Visual Impairment..........................................................................................................9
1.11.3 Challenges......................................................................................................................9
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1.11.4 Impairment.....................................................................................................................9
1.11.5 lnclusive Education........................................................................................................9
1.12 Summary...........................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER TWO....................................................................................................................10
Literature Review...................................................................................................................10
2.0 Overview.............................................................................................................................10
2.1 Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment..........................10
2.1.1 Identification of learners needs......................................................................................10
2.1.2 Appropriate instructional materials.................................................................................11
2.1.2 Curriculum........................................................................................................................11
2.2 To establish Challenges faced by learners with visual impairment....................................11
2.2.1 Identification of learners needs........................................................................................11
2.2.2 appropriate instructional materials..................................................................................12
2.2.3 Curriculum.......................................................................................................................12
2.3 Strategies of address Challenges of inclusive education to learners.................................12
2.3.2 appropriate instructional materials.................................................................................13
Curriculum.................................................................................................................................13
CHAPTER THREE (3)...........................................................................................................14
Methodology..............................................................................................................................14
3.0 Overview .............................................................................................................................14
3.1Research Design.................................................................................................................14
3.2 Study Site............................................................................................................................14
3.3 Population| target population............................................................................................14
3.4 Sample Size........................................................................................................................14
3.5 Sampling techniques.........................................................................................................14
3.6 Data collection instrument................................................................................................14
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3.7 Data Analysis......................................................................................................................14
3.8 Validity and reliability.........................................................................................................15
3.9 Data collection Procedures...............................................................................................15
3.10 Ethical Consideration.......................................................................................................15
3.11 Summary........................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER FOUR (4) ……………………………………………………………………. 16

Presentation of research finding …………………………………………………………17
4.0 overview............................................................................................................................18
4.1 Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment.......................20
4.1.1 Identications of learners needs..................................................................................24
4.1.2 Appropriate instructional materials.............................................................................26
4.1.3 Curriculum......................................................................................................................28
4.2 suggest the challenge of Inclusive education ot learners with visual impairment.........31
4.2.3. Curriculum.........................................................................................................................35
4.3 strategies for addressing the challenges of Inclusive Education...........................................36
4.3.2 Appropriate instructional materials ................................................................................37
4.3.3 Curriculum..........................................................................................................................38
4.4 summary.....................,.........................................................................................................39
CHAPTER FIVE…………………………………………………………………………….40
5.0 Discussion of the finding………………………………………………………………..40
5.1 Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment...........................40
5.1.1 Identification of learners needs.......................................................................................40
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5.1.2 appropriate instructional materials..................................................................................40
5.1.3 Curriculum..........................................................................................................................41
5.2 suggest the challenge of Inclusive education ot learners with visual impairment.........41
5.2.2 Identification of learners needs.......................................................................................41.
5.2.3 Curriculum.........................................................................................................................42
5.3 strategies for addressing the challenges of Inclusive Education....................................42
5.3.2 Appropriate instructional materials ................................................................................42
5.3.3 Curriculum..........................................................................................................................43
5.4 Summary...............................................................................................................................43
CHAPTER SIX
6.0 Overview .......................................................................................................................44
6.1 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………….44
6.2 Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………..45
Future findings …………………………………………………………………………….45
References………………………………………………………………………………...46,47
Appendices …………………………………………………………………...………….48-56
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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 OVERVIEW
This chapter presented the background of the study. Statement of the problem, the purpose of the study,
objectives of the study, Research questions, Significance of the stud, Theoretical framework. Conceptual
framework, Delimitation of the stud, Limitation of the study and Definition of the key.
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY.
From 1905 when special education was introduced to students with visual impairments at Magwero in
Chipata- Eastern Province until about 1992, the education of students with disabilities has been known to
be provided through special education model. Policy documents such as the 1977 reforms and
recommendations provided for education of learners with disabilities through special education institutions.
In higher education, the Zambia Institute of Special Education (ZAMISE), formerly called Lusaka College
of the Handicapped was the only institution that trained teachers for learners with disabilities.
Trainee teachers did not need to have disabilities to take the course. The concept of inclusive education
began to be recognised in the 1992 focus of learning document through to the 1996 Educating our Future
Policy as integration. The current policy on education Educating our Future, 1996 emphasized equality in
the provision of education to children with special needs, quality education provision and supervision of
special education provision and that to whatever extent possible children with disabilities should be
integrated into mainstream classrooms (Ministry of Education- MoE, 1996). Guided by this policy, Zambia
has made tremendous progress in providing education to learners with disabilities through different modes.
Inclusive education was first piloted in Kalulushi in 1997 and later in North Western and Western
Provinces in 2001 (Ndonyo, 2007). After that, we see teacher training in colleges begin embracing special
education content in their training curriculum (Muzata, 2018). In 1996, a degree programme to train
teachers in special education was introduced at the University of Zambia (Muzata, 2018). The aim of the
programme was to train teachers to teach learners with disabilities in schools. However, the inclusion of
students with disabilities in teacher education has not been very pronounced and documented. For instance,
the University of Zambia policy of admission provides for 45% open admission, 30% female affirmative
action, 15% rural affirmative action, 5% other and another 5% foreign students. There is no affirmative
action allocated for admitting students with disabilities. This means they have to compete within the
allocated percentages. However, despite not having an affirmative admission policy for students with
disabilities, the University of Zambia over the years has admitted a number of students with disabilities.
For instance, through the Department of Educational Psychology, Sociology and Special Education
(EPSSE)in the Faculty of Education, the university has graduated 13 students with disabilities between
2015 and 2019. Eight (8) students had visual impairments (blind), four (4) with hearing impairments (deaf)
and one (1) with a physical disability, all graduated with good grades with one getting a pass while 6 got
credits and another got 6 merits) (University of Zambia Graduation booklets 2015-2019). The numbers
given do not suggest that those were the only students with disabilities in the University. From the figures,
there is enough evidence that the University admits students with disabilities.The admission of students
with disabilities into the university is not only good gesture for training teachers for learners with
disabilities but a positive practice towards broadening employment opportunities for persons with
disabilities.
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1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
There has been support toward learners with visual impairment in inclusive classrooms at international
level, for instance in America, in African countries such as Botswana and Ethiopia as well as in Zambia.
Despite this support the problem of identifying the challenges faced by learners with visual impairment
when learning practical science subjects still exists. Therefore the ongoing study will be identifying the
challenges faced by learners with visual impairment while learning practical science subjects in inclusive
classrooms.
1.3. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The research purpose to find out the challenges of inclusive education for learners with visual impairment
in four selected secondary school of Kabwe district in Zambia.
1.4. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study were:
1. To explore the Challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment.
2. To establish challenges faced by learners with visual impairment
3. To suggest strategies for addressing the challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment.
1.5. RESEARCH QUESTION

1. What are the Challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment.
2. How to establish challenges faced by learners with visual impairment
3. What are suggested strategies for addressing the challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCY OF THE STUDY

The finding of the study was contributed to the body of knowledge on the subject of explolling challenges
of inclusive education for learners with visual impairment in 4 (four) sellected secondary schools of
Kabwe District in central Province. This study is very important to the nation in various way especially to
the ministry of education, non-governmental organization and other state holders interested in educational
province. It may be helpful to their in policy formulation and find solution to reduce challenges of inclusive
education for learners with visual impairment in secondary school.The head teachers of the schools may
benefit from this study as they will be able to formulate school based measures to address the challenges on
inclusive education for learners with visual impairment and in the implementation of policies and delivery
of instruction.
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1.7THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The study presented was guided by the Basis-model developed by Oser and Patry (1994). It is an approach
which concentrates on learning strategies and opportunities in the classroom as well as well as the aspects
of the teacher in terms of teacher expertise and subject theory and practice in the classroom context. The
model contains the following aspects namely learning methods, learning materials, the pupil‟s ability, the
curriculum, the nature of science practical and the teacher aspect. The subsequent paragraphs therefore is
trying to explain how learning methods, learning materials, the pupil‟s ability, the curriculum, the nature of
science practical and the teacher aspect can be used in identifying challenges faced by learners with visual
impairment in an inclusive classroom.
1.7.1 1dentifications of learners needs
According to the model learners needs reference for learning opportunities and classroom interaction and it
calls for better science education and it has main impact on pupils learning and performance, (Oser and
Patry, 1994). In this case it implies that learners with visual impairment will learn science practical better if
multisensory learning strategies are used, for example using the sense of hearing, touch and taste. For
instance, the learner can use the sense of hearing to get and understand the instructions during science
practical. Furthermore, the learner with visual impairment can make use of sense of hearing, for example a
learner who is totally blind can listen to a recorded audio. For instance, when testing for the presence of
starch, a day before a lesson demonstration the learner who is totally blind can listen to a recorded audio of
a lesson demonstration and understands
what the practical is all about. Then on the practical day a learner who is totally blind can be paired with a
sighted peer who will confirm and inform this learner about the presence or absence of starch after
observing colour changes. The learner can also use the sense of touch during practical science to feel the
texture of some learning materials such soil samples. Another example on the use of touch in learning
practical science is applied when a pupil uses Braille prints to get and understand learning instructions.
Furthermore, a pupil can use the sense of taste to test the sour taste in citric fruits like lemons and
oranges.Learners with a remaining sense of sight can learn well when large prints are used in writing
learning instructions and materials. The learners who are partially sighted can also learn well by sitting
closer to the teacher during demonstration of science practical. Learners with visual impairment will benefit
from the lesson if they learn in this manner because the challenge they are faced with when learning will be
addressed.
1.7.2Appropriate instructional materials
The model explains that learning materials plays a vital role in making the learners understand the concepts
taught (Oser and Patry, 1994). In this case learner with visual impairment can learn well science practical if
the learning materials are raised or embossed. This is because the pupils are able to familiarize themselves
after touching the raised learning materials. However, learners with visual impairment cannot understand
these materials if they are not adaptive because it is the adaptive features which enable learners with visual
impairment to understand the scientific concepts taught during science practical. For example when talking
about reproduction in flowering plants, there is need to make two learning materials, one in normal print for
sighted learners and the other one in raised print for learners with Visual impairment.Another aspect under
learning materials is that, learning materials such as beakers, measuring cylinders and other pieces of must
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be labeled in raised and large print to enable the pupils with visual impairment familiarize themselves with
the apparatus and build on scientific concepts to be learnt in a science practical. Pupils must be allowed to
touch these kinds of material except sharp objects like surgical blades, sharp glassware apparatus, knives as
well as those chemicals like concentrated acids which can be dangerous to them. Learners with visual
impairment will benefit from the lesson if they are provided with adaptive materials in this manner because
the challenge they are faced with when
learning will be addressed.
1.7.3 Curriculum
According to this model the curriculum is understood as a course of study given to a group of learners in a
specified period and it has outcome based results, (Oser and Patry, (1994). In terms of learners with visual
impairment, the curriculum for science practical should be composed of integrated science (junior level),
Biology, chemistry, Physics, science and agricultural science with a practical aspect in each componentThe
curriculum for learners with visual impairment must have the medium of instruction in Braille and the text
books used must prescribed in Braille. The curriculum also demands extra time of 25% given to all learners
with impairment, visual impairment inclusive, (Examinations Council of Zambia, 2016). Learners with
visual impairment will benefit from the lesson if the curriculum is implemented in this manner because the
challenge they are faced with when learning will be addressed.
1.8 CONEPPTUAL FRAME WORK
IDENTIFICATION OF LEARNERS NEEDS
CURRICULUM
Appropriate
Material
If this learning are addressed the If the teachers attitude are not good to the
learners with visual impairment learners with visual impairment, they will
will improve in their learning in improve in their learning in inclusive
inclusive education. education.
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1.9 DELITATION OF THE STUDY
The study focused on the learners with visual impairment. Hence the researcher faced a challenge of
transforming the prepared into braille for learners to answer the questions.
1.10 LIMITATIONS
Since the study will be conducted in Kabwe district the results of findings may not be generalized to other
districts of Zambia as there may be other challenges inclusive education for learners with visual
impairment. The learners with visual impairment do not taking the time to complete end up the all
challenges which could possibly affect the valldity and reliability of the results.In relation to the period to
overcome the challenges of inclusive education the strength of the results as some may take longer that the
others to complete.
1.11. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
1.11.1 Learners: refers to pupils who stop school from at any given grade level before completion of
Grade 12.
1.11.2 Visual Impairment: any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical
structure or function.
1.11.3 Challenges: A challenge is something new and difficult which requires great effort and
determination.
1.11.4 Impairment: impairment, they have a condition which prevents their eyes from working
properly.
1.11.5 Inclusive Education: allows students of all backgrounds to learn and grow side by side, to the
benefit of all.
1.11.6 Education. Acquisition of knowledge and skills
1.12. SUMMARY
The chapter covered introduction, content pages, overview, background, statement of the problem, the
purpose of the study, objectives, research questions, significance of the study, theoretical framework,
conceptual framework, delimitation of the study, and the definitions of key terms.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 overview
This chapter addresses the meaning of inclusion and other related aspects, visual impairment and its
impacts on the learning process of a child. Moreover, the chapter provides ways teachers use to identify
learning needs of students with visual impairments. Additionally, Individualized Education Plan and two
forms of collaboration are discussed. These collaborations are general teacher collaboration with special
needs teachers on one side and parents of students with visual impairments on the other side. This section is
followed by various adaptive methods used to teach students with visual impairments. Finally are the
challenges. Literature review came up with empirical studies whose findings were mostly challenges. That
is why challenges are discussed under these empirical studies. The chapter is winded up by the summary.
2.1 Challenges to Inclusion of Students with Visual Impairments
2.1.1 Identification of learners needs
with visual impairments, their learning will automatically be interrupted (Johnsen, 2001). Research shows
that the context in which the learning occurs; inflexible curriculum and inappropriate assessment
procedures, are some of the factors leading to ineffective learning among students with visual impairments
(Fraser & Maguvhe, 2008). Inclusive learning environment should be different from the ordinary learning
environment, because inclusive classroom contains students with different learning needs and abilities
(Simon et al, 2010). For quality learning of students with visual impairments, some features and conditions
should be adhered to. These include special services from specialized teachers, teaching and learning
resources, as well as assistive devices like braille and magnifying glasses and the use of flexible teaching
methods (Webster &Roe, 1998; Simon et al, 2010). Inclusive learning environment, therefore, is an
environment that allows and supports the potential learning of all students, regardless of the learning
differences and diversities these students possess in the class (Simon et al, 2010). Therefore, there is a need
for all educational stakeholders including teachers to consider restructuring of the education system and
practices, in order to help these students learn better in inclusive settings (Fraser & Maguvhe, 2008).
2.2.2Appropriate instructional materials
Assessment of learners refers to the systematic procedures of gathering and identifying relevant educational
information about a student. The main aim is to understand the specific needs of the student (McLoughlin
& Lewis, 2005).Quality teaching and learning can only be achieved when student’s background and prior
knowledge, is assessed and known. Assessment of the learning needs of a student, with visual impairment,
prior to the beginning of the course of study is important for both the student and the teacher. This is
because it allows for an understanding of the student’s academic ability, learning styles and learning needs
(Spungin, 2002). Parents and peers are therefore important partners in provision of information about the
learning of students with visual impairments. This is because parents know the needs and interests of their
children better than other people. On top of that they know much about their children’s learning problems
and therefore can suggest better educational intervention (Johnsen, 2001; Spungin, 2002). Assessment can
also be through reading students’ academic records (Spungin, 2002). Assessment is important for knowing
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whether a student will need low vision devices, large prints, magnifiers and lenses, braille etc.
2 .1.2 Curriculum
Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is a plan of study extracted from the general curriculum which is
designed specifically to meet the needs of a student with additional needs. This plan of study comprises a
list of specific goals to be met, and the strategies to be used to meet those goals (Salisbury, 2008). There is
a team of specialists, including parents and teachers, which work together to determine these specific goals
and academic needs of students to enable a teacher to plan and implement teaching (Spungin, 2002). Team
planning and implementation of IEP is crucial if we want inclusive education for students with visual
impairments to be meaningful. However, does not call for individualized teaching, rather it intends to
inform educators to be aware of and meet the individual needs of every student in inclusive classroom
(Mitchell, 2008). General and special needs teachers as well as parents are important collaborators in the
preparation and implementation of.
2.2 To establish challenges faced by learners with visual impairment
2.2.1 ldentification of learners needs
When learners with learning difficulties are included in mainstream classes, the successful inclusion of such
learners depends largely on the educators’ training, the quality of support such educators receive, and how
confident educators feel about teaching learners with special learning needs (Sadler, 2005:148). To
understand and fulfil the needs of a learner with visual impairment, the teacher should know “what risks
factors may lead to a visual impairment and the influence they may have on the normal development of a
learner” (Landsberg, 2013:à364-365). Thus, more enlightened and well trained educators stand a good
chance to successfully include learners in a mainstream Classroom.
2.2.2 Approprate instructional materials
For a very long time, learning has been considered as a product of teaching. Teachers have been mostly
using non-participatory strategies which are not effective in teaching. An effective teaching is more than
merely transmission of information from teachers to students, but rather a complex interaction between the
two parts (Webster & Roe, 1998). Therefore, aparadigm shift is required from non-participatory, traditional
teaching to modern teaching that involves an interaction between a teacher and a student, where different
needs of students are considered (Bowring- Carr & West-Burnham, 1997). However, teaching in inclusive
classrooms is not easy, since teaching needs to be more individualized as compared to normalclassrooms,
where there are little diversities among students (Peters, 2003). Furthermore, it has been pointed out that,
the degree of visual abilities varies among the students leading to variation in learning needs and learning
strategies for students (Salisbury, 2008). It is this degree of severity that will determine the extent of
understanding how the world is organized, and how it can be acted upon (Webster &Roe, 1998). As a
result, students with visual impairments require unique ways of addressing their academic problems.
Therefore, it is important that teachers understand this desire to be able to predetermine.
2.2.3 Curriculum
Labeling and Negative Attitudes Mmbaga (2002) conducted a study in Same district in Kilimanjaro region
in Tanzania with the objective of determining the existence of educational arrangements and processes that
ensure effective learning for all pupils in primary schools in Tanzania. The study came up with the findings
that, teachers were categorizing and labeling students into “bright and dull”. The “bright students” were
given more priority to answer questions unlike the “dull students”. Therefore, teaching methods did not
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consider the needs of learners with special needs. Students with visual impairments were present in the
classes but teachers were teaching as if all students were sighted using “talk and chalk” strategy.
2.3 Strategies of address Challenges of inclusive education
3.3.1 Identification Learners needs
Since students with visual impairments do not see, they rely on the voice of the teacher as one of the main
source of information for learning. It is therefore important for the teacher to do some or all of the
following: - Firstly, the voice of the teacher has to be pleasant. By pleasant it means that it should produce
relaxed tone and pitch. Secondly, the voice of the teacher needs to be interesting to listen to. Speed of
talking, volume and pitch are very important to make the voice interesting for students (Best, 1992).
Thirdly, a teacher should avoid vague statements. Phrases like “over here” or “this and that” should be
avoided as much as possible, because they do not help students with visual impairments to understand what
a teacher is talking about (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2010). Fourthly, during the teaching process a teacher
should read the notes aloud while writing them on the board or presenting them on the projector (Spungin,
2002). Fifthly, teachers should call the names of students first when they wants to address a specific
student, ask questions or give specific instructions so that students know specifically whom the teacher is
talking to. This seems important, because it helps students with visual impairments feel that they are part of
the class and they are effectively included in the lesson (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2010; Salisbury, 2008).
It is equally important to use students’ names during class discussions so that students with visual
impairments are in the position to understand who is talking (UNESCO, 2001). Finally, the language that
has been used for content delivery in the class has been a major hindrance for the level of engagement and
academic achievement of some students, especially those with visual impairment (Grace &Gravestock,
2009; Hannell, 2007). The best teacher is the one who uses simple presentation and communication. The
best teacher also makes follow up on individual student’s tasks in order to make sure that they understand
the lesson (Westwood, 1995) Several challenges interfere with the provision of education to students with
visual impairments in inclusive classrooms. The challenges are reflected in the following studies conducted,
inside and outside Tanzanian context.
3.3.2 Lack of Clear Policies on Inclusive Education

The study by Gronlund, Lim & Larsson (2010), conducted in two developing countries, namely Tanzania
and Bangladesh. The study’s aim was to answer the question of, how can assistive technology effectively
be used for inclusive education in developing countries? The study came up with findings showing that
Tanzania does not have specific policy on inclusive education. Inclusive education is mentioned in some of
the policy documents such as disability policy and education and training policy but these policies do not
state how inclusive education should be implemented, monitored and evaluated. The study revealed that
teaching and learning materials for students with special needs are lacking.
3.3.3 Lack of Knowledge
The study by Kesiktas & Akcamete (2011), sought to determine the degree to which the professional
standards for Turkish teachers of students with visual impairments were addressed during pre-service
training and the degree to which the in-service teachers of visual impairments implemented these
professional standards. Findings of the study showed that, there is insufficient knowledge and skills among
teachers regarding implementation of inclusive teaching for students with visual impairments. Another
study by Miles (2003) conducted in Temeke district to explore appropriate and sustainable ways of building
capacity of key stakeholders in education to reflect, analyse and document their experiences of promoting
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inclusive education, revealed that inclusive education is a difficult concept to understand among teacher.
the challenges of of Inclusive Education learners with visual impairments. In contrary to this, Polloway
and Patton (1997) emphasize periodic assessment is vital in inclusive education. According to Polloway
and Patton (1997), since children need change from month to month and from year to year, regular
periodic assessment must be conducted. The findings also indicated that teachers did not try to slow their
speed while presenting the lessons in order to help the students. Teachers did not give extra time for
students with special needs to complete their activities. However, Heward and Orlansky (1992) claim that
regardless of the degree of , teaching procedure for students with special needs is implemented based
on special time allotment for task completion.impairment
Curriculum
In order to ensure that, inclusive education takes place there are many things to be considered. Concerning
this, Msuya (2005) suggests that necessary facilities like teaching and learning materials, equipment
and some environmental settings that are important for children with special needs should be considered in
an inclusive context. Specifically, he mentioned facilities like Braille materials, audio and visual devices,
various teaching aids, mobility equipment like white cane for the blind, special classroom designs and
toilets are necessary for students with special needs. In contrast, the findings of this study indicated
that there is a shortage of Braille, reference book written in Braille, audio recorder and other necessary
materials in the library. The finding revealed that the same examination is set for all types of learners who
are attending in the same grade level. But this is not accepted by different research studies.
For instance, Gearheart et al. (1992) suggested that testing procedures may have to be modified for the
students who are visually impaired. Reading braille takes considerably longer time than reading standard
print and it may be necessary either to extend the amount of time for completion of tests or reduce the
number of test items, such students should not be penalized if they cannot finish tests because of the tools
they are using. Students with visual impairment take longer time to read a text than students with normal
vision Students with visual impairment complete their work very slowly due to the nature of their
impairment (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2010). Therefore, extra time allowance is extremely important
for them to process visual information.
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CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0. OVERVIEWS
The study presented used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to describe the existing’s situation.
Questionnaires and interviews will be used in the study.
3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN
In order to have in-depth information on challenges for learners with visual impairment in inclusive
education both qualitative and quantitative will be used to collect data by including both qualitative and
quantitative data, case study helps explain both the process of phenomenon through complete observation,
reconstruction and analysis of the cases under investigation.
3.2. STUDY SITE

The study will be carried out in Kabwe District particularly in four selected school, which is secondary A
secondary B secondary C and secondary D
3.3. POPULATION
The study will target about 130 respondents will be 50 will be students or pupils, 5 will be teachers and 65
teachers (13 from each school) 10 will be parent in Kabwe District to represent the population under study.
3.4. SAMPLE SIZE
The population is 130 respondent to represent the population under the study area. These will be 4 head-
teachers, 65 teachers (13 from each school), 50 pupils (10 from each school) and parents in Kabwe District
to represent the population under study.
3.5. SAMPLING PROCEDURE
Random sampling techniques will be used in order to pick the participants.
3.6. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS
Data will be collected by means of questionnaires, focus group discussion and interviews.
3.7 DATA ANALYSIS
Thematic analysis will be used in qualitative data after coding and arranging it in themes while quantitative
data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of frequencies and percentages.
3.8. VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
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This study is very important and reliable to learners with visual impairment because it’s giving more details
on how learners should be considered in mainstream together with those with disabilities more especially
learners with visual impairment. This study should be used to overcome the challenges learner with visual
impairments faced in inclusive education.
3.9. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
1.9.1 Institutional Approval
To uphold legal and ethical considerations, I first obtained ethical clearance from UNISA (Appendix A)
and acquired authority to direct a research from the Ministry of Education and Training (Appendix B and
C). I also sought permission from schools principals (Appendix D), educators (Appendix E), parents of
participating learners and from the learners themselves (Appendix and G) to conduct a study in their
schools.
1.9.2. Respect for Human Dignity
I understood that my role must be based on a fundamental respect for human dignity and personal integrity.
I understood that human dignity cannot be set aside in order to achieve greater understanding. This study
preserved individual freedom, respect, and privacy and protected personal integrity and avoided any harm.
3.12. SUMMARY
The chapter covered overview, research design, study site, population, sampling size, sampling procedure,
data collection instrument, data analysis, validity and liability and the summary.
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CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.0 Overview
This chapter presents the findings on the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual
impairment. The presentation is in line with the research objectives and these are, to ascertain the
Challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment, to establish challenges faced by
learners with visual impairment and to suggest strategies for addressing the challenges Inclusive education
ot learners with visual impairment. It will also take into account the sub themes under each objective such
as identification of learners’ needs, appropriate instructional materials and curriculum. The presentation of
the findings is confined around the questions asked in the questionnaire semi structured interviews,
observation check list and Focus group discussion. The chapter will end with the summary.
4.1 The Challenges of Inclusive Education to Learners with visual Impairment
In order to ascertain the challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment, the following
themes were taken into account and these were identification of learner’s needs, appropriate instructional
materials and curriculum.
4.1.1 Identification of Learners’ Needs
In order to explore the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment, the researcher
used the following research instruments, questionnaires semi structured interviews, observation check list
and Focus group discussion. The researcher administered the question to the HT'1' and HT’2' to find out
whether teachers were identifying learners’ needs while teaching. The answers were reflected in their
responses as follows:
HT'1' stated that:
“Teachers do not seem to have interest in learning of pupils with visual impairment in that they hardly pay
attention to unique learning needs of the learners as lessons are presented, sometimes they don’t
understand what teachers teach and no attention is given and this negatively affects the the learners with
visual impairment.”
HT1 narrated that:
“Learners’ needs were not identified because teachers lack the skill to use when identifying the needs of
the leaners with visual impairment resulting in learners stigmatizetion in their classroom.”
During lesson observation, the researcher observed one of the lessons in Home Economics Grade Nine
class. The topic was on types of floors found in homes. The teacher started by revising the previous lesson
with the learners in spoken words. She went further by asking learners to mention the types of floors found
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in various homes. The teacher mostly used verbal communication instead of non verbal when explaining on
the types of floors and the learners were not able to see thetypes of floors being displayed on the braille
chart in order for them to follow the lesson well. There was communication breakdown as learners could
not understand what the teacher taught them. The researcher observed that learner’s needs such as
communication were not taken into consideration as there was communication breakdown while teaching.
When the question was administered to the teachers which was, do you identify leaners needs while
teaching? The answers to this question are reflected in their responses as follows;
TR ‘1’ submitted stated that:
“Learner’s needs were not identified.”
TR ‘2’ reported that:
“Learners needs are very difficult to be identified because of a lot of work and activities to be done in
inclusive classroom .”
TR ‘3’ submitted that:
“Learner’s needs were not identified because of over enrolment and it was difficult for them to learn well
in class.”
TR ‘4’ explained that:
“There are no incentives given to us, so it is a waste of time identifying learner’s needs that’s why even
learners don’t learne well.”
In addition, TR ‘6’ stated that:
“Some learners’ needs were identified at times when supervisors visited them during monitoring”
TR ‘8’ narrated that:
“Learners’ needs were not taken into considerations because of oral spoken words variations and learners
are not able to understand”
“Because of many learners in class, learners’ needs were not identified.”
During the focus group discussion for the learners, it was necessary for the researcher to find out whether
their needs were identified by the teachers while learning, their answers were reflected in the following
responses;
LR ‘1’ mentioned that:
“Very few teachers understand what I ask because most teachers cannot teach without writing on the
board and I don’t give correct answers.”
LR ‘2’ said that:
“Our teachers just come in class and teach they don’t pay attention to me even if I ask questions, they don’t
answer which makes me to be getting wrong answers in mathematics.”
LR ‘3’ narrated that:
“Most of the teachers don’t use both the hands and the mouth when they are teaching so most of the time, I
write wrong spellings.”
In addition, LR’ 4’ stated that:
“Teachers sometimes when they come across difficult words, they use written kind of communication which
makes it difficult for me to follow the lesson up to the end because I depend on listening .”
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LR’5’ explained that:
“Most of the teachers when they fail to pronounce certain words, they just write them n the chalk board
and I find it very difficult for me to understand clearly the meaning of words or sentences that are written
in English and I don’t perform learn well in subjects which has a lot of woork to read such as Religious
Education.”
LR ‘6’ stated that:
“Teachers when teaching most of the time they move from front and back of the class and this makes it
difficult for us to understand some difficult words and this makes us to fail to understand all things and
when an exercise or test is given most of the time my grades are low.”
LR ‘8’ explained that:
“Because of visual problems, our teachers were afraid of asking about our concerns that we had while
learning.”
Basing on these findings on the identification of learners needs concerning their Inclusive education , it was
discovered that the academic the challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment was
poor because teachers had difficulties in identifying learners needs, teachers lacked the skill of identifying
learners needs, needs not taken into consideration by teachers, difficulties in identifying learners needs by
the teachers, over enrolment of the learners ,teachers fail to understand the learners, teachers did not use
both hands and mouth, teachers don’t pay attention to learners, no time to identify learners needs, difficult
words teachers used written words communication and teachers when teaching did not stay in one position
for learners to lip read, the syllabus did not cater for identification of learners needs instead its concerns
with the objectives, teachers were just too serious to pay attention to identifying learner’s needs.
4.1.2 Appropriate Instructional Materials
It was also important for the researcher to find out whether appropriate instructional materials were used by
the teachers in order to ascertain the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment.
When the question was asked to HT ‘1’and HT ‘2’, if teachers were using appropriate instructional
materials when teaching learners with visual impairment. Their answers are reflected in the following
responses,
HT‘1’ explained that:
“Teachers had negative attitude when it came to the usage of teaching materials such that even learners
don’t learn well in class.”
HT'2' explained that:
“Instructional materials were very expensive and the school had no money to buy such materials for the
learners with visual impairment and this made learners with visual impairment to not underperforming the
lessons.”
The researcher observed two lessons one in Geography Grade 12 class on Mining in Zambia and the other
one in Home Economics Grade 9 class on the types of floors in order to find out if teachers were using
appropriate instructional materials while teaching learners with visual impairment. The home economics
teacher entered the class only with a lesson plan and started explaining to the learners in class well writing
on the board on the types of floors without any form of a teaching aid such as a braille diagram on chart
showing different types of floors for the learners to see and fully understand the lesson because they are
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visual learners so they learn well when teachers use braille for them to ready. During the second
observation in Geography the teacher just went to class with a piece of chalk and started explaining to the
learners’ areas in Zambia where different minerals are mined without using atlases or drawing the map on
the chalk board for the learners to follow the lesson well. The researcher observed that in both lessons the
teachers did not consider the usage of appropriate instructional materials for the learners with visual
impairment such as brailed text books, charts and diagrams.
When the researcher asked the question to the special education teachers if they were using appropriate
materials when teaching learners with hearing impairment. Their answers were reflected in the following
responses;
TR ‘1’ responded by saying that:
“It is very difficult to use appropriate instructional materials because learners with visual impairment need
special teaching aids which were very expensive and learners’ concentration is reduced when teachers
don’t use appropriate teaching materials which leads to fail to understand the lesson.”
TR ‘2’ said that:
“We don’t use the instructional materials because the school administration did not procure such that it
makes learners with visual impairment not to learn properly well in class”
TR‘3’ expressed that:
“Only few teachers used appropriate instructional materials as the result most of the learners in some
subjects they don’t learn well.”
TR‘4’stated that:
“I teach mathematics and the materials like braille and audio books are not enough and I don’t usually use
them, it makes learners to underperform in my subject.”
TR’5’lamented that:
“There is lack of instructional materials for learners with visual impairment such as audio books in braille
which arising in learners’ high Challenges to learn.”
TR'6' said that
“I don’t use instructional materials such as audio notes and braille aids and books because the school has
not provided and this promotes the aspect of learners not doing well in class because they are audio who
needs to hear what they are learning and relate to the teacher’s explanation.”
During the focus group discussion for the learners with visual impairment, the researcher administered the
question which was, do your teachers use appropriate instructional materials while teaching? The answers
were reflected in the following responses;
LR ‘1’ narrated that:
“Our teachers just use text books at times in English and this makes it difficult for me to improve in leading
and during composition leading on the braille I always face high Challenges.”
“The teacher who teaches us home economics comes with different cooking utensils and it becomes not
easy for me to understand whenever she teachers because I don't see the items when learning which leads
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to feel uncomfortable during the lesson”
LR’3’ stated that:
“The teachers just come to class with pieces of chalk without any braille charts I have limited knowledge
because I just depend on braille and oral communication what he says so I don’t learn well during the
lessons because sometimes I fail to remember everything.”
LR ‘4’ explained that:
“Our teachers just come to class they explain and the write and exercise without using any braille charts
or audio for us to hear or even atlases for us to ready the maps in geography.”
LR‘5’ explained that:
“I have never seen any of our teachers coming to class with braille objectives unless only the teacher for
home economics whenever she is teaching, she will bring something for us to to ready and almost every
one fail to grasp the lesson.”
Basing on the empirical findings on appropriate instructional materials concerning the academic
performance of learners with hearing impairment, it was discovered that ac
The challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment did not learn well because,
teachers negative attitude on usage of instructional materials, only few teachers used instructional materials
sometimes especially in English and home economics sometimes teachers went with text books and real
objects for learners , there was erratic funding in school to buy instructional materials, teachers not consider
using appropriate materials, appropriate materials very expensive, school did not procure, teachers used text
books sometimes, teachers just come with pieces of chalk, teachers don’t use audio aids such as books and
charts because they are not provided by the school administration.
4.1.3 Curriculum
4.1.3.1 Curriculum Modification
It was imperative for the researcher to find out whether the curriculum used by teachers was modified in
order to explore the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment. The researcher
administered the question to HT ‘1’ and HT ‘2.’ The answers were reflected in the following responses;
HT ‘1’ narrated that:
“Teachers cannot modify the curriculum for learners with visual impairment because they write the same
exams with those who are able to see and this affects them so much.”
HT ‘1’responded by saying that:
“The curriculum was not modified and our learners with visual impairment they don’t learn well in their
classes.”
During the lesson observation in a grade 9 class home economics the researcher requested for the teaching
file from the teacher and researcher started by checking the cover page of the syllabus which was written on
top that it was prepared by the curriculum development center. The researcher went further and checked the
specific outcomes of the syllabus and then checked if the schemes of work were in line with the syllabus
which was prepared by curriculum development center and it was found that everything was in line with the
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curriculum. The researcher observed that the teacher did not use a modified curriculum because she
followed the ordinary syllabus when teaching the learners with visual impairment.
During the focus group discussion for the special education teachers. The researcher administered the
question to the teachers to find out if they were using a modified curriculum when teaching learners with
visual impairment, the responses were reflected as follows:
TR‘1’ said that:
“I don’t modify the curriculum because examinations are not modified and curriculum is not modified.”
TR‘2’ narrated that:
“I follow what is outlined in the syllabus which is not modified and too bulk making it very difficult for
learners with visual impairment to excel in Inclusive classroom.”
TR ‘3’ stated that:
“The modification of the curriculum was not done because there is only one curriculum approved
by curriculum development center this makes our learners not to to feel welcome.”
TR ‘4’ responded by saying that:
“My head of department gave me the syllabus which is from the curriculum development center and I
follow the specific outcomes from it which are not modified leading high Challenges to learners with visual
impairment .”
TR ‘5’ said that:
“I teach social studies to the grade eights and grade nines I use the same syllabus which the teachers from
the main stream use further more I follow the content, objectives and outcomes as outlined in the syllabus
which is not modified.”
TR‘6’responded by saying that:
“I think what is in the curriculum is not modified and this makes learners with visual impairment not to
learn well in inclusive classroom.”
The empirical findings of the study on the modification of the curriculum by the teachers concerning the
challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual was not pleasing because teachers cannot modify
the curriculum which was used by the teachers was not modified teachers followed the ordinary syllabus
when teaching ,teachers don’t modify the curriculum, examinations are not modified , follow what is
outlined in the syllabus which was not modified ,only one curriculum approved by curriculum development
canter, given the syllabus by the head of department from the from curriculum development center. This
might be the challenges to learners impairment.
4.2 Suggest the Challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment
In order to establish challenges learners with hearing impairment faced in terms of academic performance,
the following themes were taken into account and these were identification of learners’ needs, appropriate
instructional materials and curriculum.
Learners’ needs are the problems which learners with visual impairment faced in inclusive education. In
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order to establish the challenges learners with visual impairment face in inclusive education, the
researcher used the following research instruments, questionnaires, semi structured, observation check list
and focus group discussion.
The question was administered to HT‘1’ and HT ‘2’ to find out the challenges learners with visual impaired
faced in inclusive education. The answers were reflected in the following responses;
HT’1’ narrated that:
“Learners with visual impairment face challenges which may include various form of neglect from the
community, their families and more particularly the unfriendly school environment and unclear school
policies which does not promote their learning, this results into stigmatization.”
HT‘1’ said that:
“Many teachers do not know how to use braille and visual-impaired learners too are not conversant with
it. This creates communication barrier for learners’ needs making learners visual impairment not to learn
well.”
During a lesson observation for the grade 12 class in Geography the researcher observed a lesson under
mining in Zambia on copper mining. The teacher started by asking learners to stand up, greeted them and
then told them to sit down. The teacher then revised the previous lesson with the learners on the importance
of mining in Zambia using question and answer method and learner were asked to mention the And write
hgsocio-economic benefits of mining to Zambia. Their answers were such as; “source of employment to the
local people, development of infrastructure such as roads, schools and health facilities, source of income to
the local people involved in small scale mining, it promotes the country’s Gross Domestic Products. Source
of the country’s revenue in form of foreign exchange, development of other industries, mining promotes
both local and international tourism. “As they were answering they had challenges in inclusive to learners
with visual impairment certain words in their responses such as foreign exchange, Gross domestic product,
revenue and infrastructure. The teacher then wrote the lesson for the day on the chalk board as copper
mining and write to the learners .The teacher explained to the learners the two methods used by the miners
to mine copper in Zambia that is underground method which can be used when copper ore lies deep in the
earth crust or in the ground and open pit cast mining as used when minerals lies near the surface of the earth
crust
or near the surface of the top of the ground and for the other name for underground method the teacher just
wrote ‘shaft method’ because was not able to ready a braille it to the learners. The teacher then explained to
the learners that after copper has been extracted from the ground it is supposed to be processed using
various stages that is blasting, flotation, smelting and electrolytic refinery. While explaining to the learners
on the processing of copper the teacher did not sign or write difficult words on the chalk board such as
copper ore, smelting and changes of state to the learners because, such words have no signs in English and
the learners did not grasp the concepts on stages of copper processing and there was communication gap as
they did not follow the lesson fully.
The researcher observed that there was a challenge in learners needs in understanding the difficult words as
they were seen asking the teacher to be repeating the explanation from time to time during the lesson
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discussion. The researcher observed another lesson in a Grade ten class in English on “comparatives and
superlatives” the lesson started with an introduction of comparatives and superlatives. The teacher defined
and explained the differences between the usage of superlatives and comparatives and when defining at one
point she forgot to oral words and just continued talking and one learner was listening busy doing his
homework during her lesson. Having not continued listening throughout the lesson by the teacher resulted
into information gap for learners needs as learners with visual impairment did not understand the
definitions and explanations concerning the differences between comparatives and superlatives’ in full. The
teacher went further by asking learners with visual impairment to give examples of sentences that shows
expression of comparatives and superlatives.
The Learners with hearing impairment did not construct any correct sentences as they did not understand
the definitions of superlatives and comparatives so even as the lesson progressed learners still did not
participate fully and when the teacher gave them an exercise, they did not get everything correct. The
researcher observed that the teacher lacked the skill of paying attention to the needs of the learners with
hearing impairment and learners encountered challenges as the teacher was moving a lot while teaching
which made the learners with visual impairment not to lip read and this made the learning acquisition of
skills very difficult for the learners with visual impairment.
During the focus group discussion, the researcher administered a question to the teachers to find out the
challenges of Inclusive education to learners with visual impairment. The answers were reflected in the
following responses;
“One of the challenges is that some of us who teach learners with visual impairment we don’t know braille
very well and it disadvantages learning needs for the learners with visual impairment as some of the
learners who are completely blind Cannot get anything during the lesson writings resulting into not paying
attention in class."
TR‘2'narrated that:
“Some of the teachers do not seem to have interest in the learners with visual impairment such that they
hardly pay attention to the unique learning needs of learners with visual impairment as lessons are
presented in the classroom, sometimes learners with visual impairment don’t understand what the teacher
is teaching and no attention is given to them this makes the learners with visual impairment not to
concentrate when learning”
TR '3’ mentioned that:
“Teachers from various training institutions use different teaching methods to refer to the same words in
their usage of braille during the classroom instructions which created confusion for learners needs as the
learners with visual impairment were unable to learn the correct such words and listening.”
TR‘4'narrated that:
“Some of the teachers do not seem to have interest in the learners with visual impairment such that they
hardly pay attention to the unique learning needs of learners with visual impairment as lessons are
presented in the classroom, sometimes learners with visual impairment don’t understand what the teacher
is teaching and no attention is given to them this makes the learners with learners impairment not to
concentrate and academically.”
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During the focus group discussion, the researcher also administered a question to the learners to find out the
challenges of Inclusive education to learners with visual impairment their answers were in the following
responses;
LR‘1’ mentioned that:
“I enjoy learning although sometimes teachers at certain particular times they use difficult words when
teaching and when it comes to writing I end up writing wrong answers because some words are difficulty.”
LR‘2' narrated that:
“I fail to interact with my friends around the school who can see and this makes it very difficult for me to
learn from my friends who are not blind even to ask questions about things that I do not understand after
the teacher has taught in class and I usually have problems to learn.”
Because I can’t see my friends at home who can see so they consider me to be rude and bad person who
cannot be educated, but they cannot understand me in which I communicate this makes me lose interest in
learning.”
LR‘4’ responded by stating that:
“My parents and my sisters don’t know braille reading which I use at school so it becomes very difficult for
them to help me with the home work and this makes my academic performance very bad in most of the
subjects.”
“Am not able to do my homework because at home there is no one who knows braille Sometimes the work
is too difficult so I copy from my friends at school and what I copy from my friend is something that I don’t
understand so I get them wrong.”
LR ‘5'responded that:
“In the situation where by my mother does not escort me, I cannot come to school because home is very far
and am afraid of cars because when crossing the road, I cannot hear sound of cars approaching and
because of that whenever my mother is not there, I do miss classes, this makes me not to attend lesson.”
LR‘6’mentioned that:
“I have challenges in reading so it is very difficult for me to read and answer questions correctly as am not
used to reading in English.”
According to the findings of this study concerning identification of learners needs on the challenges
learners with visual impairment faced in Inc. education it was discovered that the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment was very high because of the challenges which learners faced
such as; learners’ needs were neglected by the community and families, unfriendly school environment,
inadequate spoken skills by many teachers, most of the teachers were ill prepared in braille chart,
communication barrier for learners needs, negative attitude from the local community towards learners with
visual impairment, learners have problems in focusing on tasks, learners exposed to English ora lword
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instead of written words making it difficult for the learners to understand, learners’ mobility problems,
learner have health related problems making it difficult to attend lessons regularly, teachers don’t allow
commotion writing after a demonstration. learners did not know some words in braille, information gap for
learners needs, lack of visual aids for the learners, parents don’t know spoken in to help their children at
home and teachers use difficulty words when teaching. The high Challenges of in inclusive classroom to
learners with visual impairment could be the product of a combination of many challenges surrounding the
learning needs of learners with visual and not only the aspect of listening..
4.2.2. Appropriate Instructional materials

The researcher administered a question to HT‘1’and HT ‘2' to find out the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment due to the use of instructional materials while learning. The
answers were reflected in the following responses.
HT‘1’ narrated that:
" Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment went high because of lack of
appropriate instructional materials to be used by the teachers and the learners such as books and braille
materials which the learners with visual impairment could use during the lessons this made learners with
visual to have challenges in acquiring skills and knowledge”
HT‘2’ mentioned that:
“Learners with visual impairment did not concentrate much because teachers did not use appropriate
instructional materials as they are audio learners so if a teacher does not use visual materials such as
audio, braille maps and charts learners with visual impairment easily forget what teachers taught them
which leads low acquisition of information.”
During the lesson observation in Geography the teacher taught the grade 12 learners on copper mining in
Zambia, explained to the learners the two methods of mining copper and the stages of processing and did
not use any brailed chart or map showing the methods of mining copper and the stages involved in
processing. When the teacher asked questions at the end of the lesson learners were not able to answer them
correctly. The researcher observed that the teacher delivered the lesson to the learners with visual
impairment without any appropriate visual aid instructional materials such as audio charts, audio pictures,
audio objects and diagrams this may have caused the learners not to learn well during the question-and-
answer session as the learners seemed to have challenges in grasping the subject matter because they did
not see what the teacher was talking about.
During the focus group discussion with the teachers, the researcher asked the on the challenges of inclusive
education to learners with visual impairment due to the usage of instructional materials. The answers were
reflected in the following responses.
TR‘1’ lamented that:
“Failure by the school management to supply us with adequate appropriate teaching and learning
materials contributed to the inability to complete the planed work for the year and subsequently led to
learners’ undermined the final examinations as they did not enough information or work because the
appropriate instructional materials were not there.”
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TR‘2’ echoed that:
“Learners with visual impairment had challenges in understanding abstract concepts presented in words
which makes it very difficult for them to learn as teachers don’t use appropriate instructional materials.”
“Learners don’t concentrate much because teachers don’t use appropriate instructional materials when
teaching such as brailed charts in order for them to ready and have interest in the lesson.”
TR‘3’ added that:
“Lack of appropriate instructional teaching and learning materials results into learners with visual
impairment having challenges in doing well in tasks and end up giving wrong answers.”
TR‘4' stated that:
“Learners with visual impairment have challenges in remembering what the teacher taught at a particular
time resulting into reduced higher Challenge because teachers don’t use appropriate instructional
materials such as braille diagrams audio during lessons which can help learners to relate to the lessons.”
TR‘5'mentioned that:
“The Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment in science related subjects,
which included limited capacity of audio and spoken understanding, many abstract inappropriate concepts
in the braille text books and other instructional materials not appropriate such as apparatus which
produces sound made learners with hearing impairment to have high Challenge as some concepts in
sciences cannot be vocally.”
TR‘6' mentioned that:
“Lack of adapted appropriate instructional materials such as teachers’ guides and learners’ books seem to
be the most obvious challenges facing learners with visual impairment were failing to attain the useful
knowledge.”
TR'7’ narrated that:
“Learners’ interest is not aroused due to the use of inappropriate instructional materials which resulted
into reduced the challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment.”
The researcher also administered the question to the learners during the focus group discussion to find out
the challenges they faced while learning due to use of instructional materials. Their answers were reflected
in the following responses.
“Lack of braille text books in English it’s a big problem to me because I don’t practice reading in English
and this makes me not to learn well almost in all the subjects as all the materials that we use when learning
they are written in English.”
LR‘2’explained that:
“Most of the time there are no braille charts in classroom for each subject in order to be followed and
because of that immediately the teacher ends the lesson I forget everything because I will have nowhere to
refer to and I don’t learn well in class.
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LR ‘3’ responded that:
“The braille reading materials are not enough, we have to share one text among five or six of us and at
times it’s difficult to concentrate if we share because we end up chatting with one another and by the time
the teacher finishes teaching, we will have learnt completely nothing.”
“In this school teachers don’t use things that I can see when learning such as oral spoken or story books
for me to read this makes it very difficult for me to learn and get good results in class.”
“I learn well by seeing and connecting to what the teacher is explaining but our teachers just come in class
without using things such as videos or charts showing things which they may be explaining this makes me
not to remember things easily that’s why in in inclusive I don’t learn well in class as I just depend on what
the teacher explains in class.”
The empirical findings on the appropriate instructional materials concerning the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment it was discovered that the learners with visual impairment
underperformed because they faced challenges such as; lack of appropriate instructional materials, teachers
did not use Audio aids, learners did not concentrate much when teachers did not use appropriate
instructional materials, did not learn well when instructional materials were not used, teachers did not use
appropriate instructional materials, not able to see things to relate to what the teacher was listening audios
lack of braille charts, learners depended on the teacher, lack of adapted materials such as teachers guide
and learners books, inability to complete the panned work, learners with visual impairment did not
concentrate much, have problems in understanding abstract concepts limited knowledge, learners easily
forget what they are taught by the teachers, learners did not practice identifying.
4 2.3 Curriculum
The researcher administered the question to HT‘1’ and HT‘2’ on the challenges of Inclusive Education to
learners with visual impairment in terms of the curriculum. Their responses were reflected as follows:
HT'1/'narrated that:
“The curriculum is too bulky for learners with visual impairment posing challenges to learners with visual
impairment in inclusive education cannot grasp the concepts and correctly.”
HT ‘2' responded that:
“Students with visual impairment are exposed to the general curriculum which proves to be inflexible and
quite demanding as the present syllabus only favors learners without visual impairment that’s why teachers
fail to cover the syllabus and our learners with visual impairment always lag behind in terms of
understanding.”
During the lesson observation the researcher observed a lesson in English grade 10 class structure on
comparatives and superlatives. The teacher explained to the learners the differences between comparatives
and superlatives, gave some examples in verbal and nonverbal communication. The teacher then distributed
some braille pages of a passage and asked learners to read and extract some comparatives and superlatives
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and write them down in their audio books as an exercise. The researcher observed that the passage was
printed in English and not in spoken. The learners expressed challenges in answering the exercise as they
were not able to read correctly this caused learners with visual impairment in term of curriculum
concentrates much on the usage of Standard English for the learners with visual impairment instead of oral
communication.
During the focus group discussion for the learners with visual impairment the researcher administered the
question to find out the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment due to the
curriculum, their answers were reflected in the following response.
“The curriculum is very unfriendly as it is not modified such that it does not take into consideration the
unique needs of learners with visual impairment.”
TR‘2’ explained that:
“The curricula do not meet the needs of the learners with visual impairment because it is like using the
curricula for children without visual impairment my learners with visual impairment experiences bad in
class because it does not have any provision for braille.”
TR‘3explained that:
“The Zambian curriculum is very rigid in that it does not provide for learners with visual impairment to
answer examination questions in sign language and this makes learners with visual impairment to have
challenges in inclusive education as it requires them to answer examination questions in English, a difficult
words which instructions were not made during their time for learning.”
TR'4'explained that
“There were some challenges experienced in inclusive achievement of learners with visual impairment in
science related subjects, which included limited capacity of seeing and lingual understanding, many
abstract inappropriate concepts in the text books and other instructional materials not appropriate such as
apparatus which produces sound made learners with hearing impairment to have poor academic
performance as some concepts in sciences cannot be signed in sign language.”
TR‘5'mentioned that:
“Lack of adapted appropriate instructional materials such as teachers’ guides and learners’ books seem to
be the most obvious challenges affecting the in inclusive education of learners with Visual impairment as
the learners were failing to attain the useful knowledge.”
TR’6' narrated that:
“Learners’ interest is not aroused due to the use of inappropriate instructional materials which resulted
into high Challenges of inclusive education participation and accountability for learners with hearing
impairment.”
The researcher also administered the question to the learners during the focus group discussion to find out
the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment due to use of instructional
materials. Their answers were reflected in the following responses.
Page 28 of 55
“Lack of braille text books in English it’s a big problem to me because I don’t practice reading in English
and this makes me not to learn well almost in all the subjects as all the materials that we use when learning
they are written in English.”
LR‘2’explained that:
“Most of the time there are no audio charts in classroom for each subject in order to be followed and
because of that immediately the teacher ends the lesson I forget everything because I will have nowhere to
refer to and I don’t learn well in class.”
LR‘3’ responded that:
“The reading materials are not enough, we have to share one text among five or six of us and at times it’s
difficult to concentrate if we share because we end up chatting with one another and by the time the
teacher finishes teaching, we will have learnt completely nothing.”
LR‘5’ stated that:
“In this school teachers don’t use things that I can see when learning such as pictures, audios or story
books for me to read this makes it very difficult for me to learn and get good results in class.”
“I learn well by seeing and connecting to what the teacher is explaining but our teachers just come in class
without using things such as audio or braille charts showing things which they may be explaining this
makes me not to remember things easily that’s why i feel segregated in the classroom as I just depend on
what the teacher explains in class.”
LR‘7’ narrated that:
“Lessons are confusing and sometimes I get confused and I do not understand some words used in
mathematics because the teacher does not give us audio books so that we can read and follow all the steps
as he explains and on the other he is too faster, during his explanations he does not allow us to questions
this makes me to dislike his subject as I don’t understand anything when he is teaching and even when I
write the exercise and fail he does not help me to make some corrections.”
According to the empirical findings of this study on the curriculum concerning the challenges learners with
visual impairment face in Inclusive education it was discovered that the challenges of inclusive education
to learners with visual impairment; the curriculum is too bulky for learners with hearing impairment, the
curriculum is inflexible and quite demanding, the curriculum only favors those without visual impairment,
the curriculum was not modified for the learners with visual impairment, curriculum not tailored to suit the
needs of the learners with visual impairment ,teachers were using different Braille for same words,
language policy makers stressed English as the national medium of instruction and examinations which
mainly disadvantaged learners with visual impairment ,some of the topics in the syllabus were very
difficult, learners with visual impairment had challenges in reading written work in standard English and
not s and the contents in the syllabus did not help to meet the special needs of the learners with hearing
impairment.
Page 29 of 55
4.3 Strategies to Address Challenges Learners with visual Impairment
In order to suggest strategies to address the challenges Inclusive Education to learners with visual
impairment, the following sub themes were taken into account and these were identification of learners’
needs, appropriate instructional materials and Curriculum.
4.3.1.1 Suggested Strategies to Address Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment.
Order to suggest strategies to address the challenges of Inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment . The researcher used the following instruments; semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and
focus group discussion.
The researcher administered the question to HT1’ and HT‘2' to suggest strategies to address challenges
learners with visual impairment in inclusive education, identification of learners needs. Their answers were
reflected in the following responses;
HT ‘1’ mentioned that:
“Teachers to handle learners with visual impairment should be fully trained in braille reading in order to
effectively communicate to learners needs and avoid communication barrier for the learners with hearing
impairment.”
HT‘2' also added that:
“There was need to have well trained teachers in special education who would be able to handle more
difficult topics in braille reading in order to address learners needs in overcoming Challenges of inclusive
education for learners with visual impairment.”
The researcher also administered the question to the teachers and the answers were reflected in the
following responses.
TR ‘1’ suggested that:
“In terms of learners needs in spoken words English should be introduced to learners with visit impairment
at an early grade so that when they come to secondary school, they will not have challenges in learning”
TR ‘2’ expressed that:
“There was need to simplify some aspects in braille reading for easier explanations of certain topics more
clearly to avoid challenges in learners needs so that comprehensions and cloze tests would be much easier
for learners with visual impairment.”
TR‘3’respondent that:
“Teachers need to use familiar words and understand the learner’s needs in terms of the culture for the
visual-impaired learners in order to overcome Challenges Inclusive of learners with visual impairment.”
TR‘4’ voiced out that:
“Teachers should involve the parents for the learners with Visual impairment so that they can also learn
some basic skills to use at home to prevent communication barrier for learners needs when communicating
with their children with hearing impairment.”
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TR‘5’ mentioned that:
“There was need for more trained teachers who would be able to handle learner’s needs in more difficult
topics in braille and audio in order to help the learners with Visual impairment in inclusive education.”
TR’6; explained that:
“Teachers handling learners with visual impairment needs to be motivated by the school through the
provision of certain incentives and Teachers should teach leaners with visual impairment audio English
starting from preschool this will help to address the learner’s needs in terms of listening development.”
The researcher also administered the question to the learners with visual impairment to suggest some
measures to be put in place to address their challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment." Their views were as follows;
LR’1'echoed that:
“In order for me not to be missing lessons sometimes because of long distance from school the government
should build a boarding school for us learners with visual impairment so that we can be staying there.”
LR ‘2’ added that:
“Both teachers and pupils should be using same braille and spoken words so that there can be no problems
in terms of communication barriers.”
LR‘3’narraated that:
"Teachers should be paying attention to the learner needs and when they ask questions, they should be
given correct answers.”
LR ‘4; expressed that:
“Teachers when teaching should be both audio and talking to them in order for them to grasp some
concepts with no challenges through both spoken and audio books.’
R ‘5’ suggested that:
“Teachers should explain difficult words on the spoken words and audio for easy understanding by the
learners with visual impairment.
LR “6” responded that:
There is need for me to be provided with visual aids to help me maybe I can see a bit and overcome
Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment”
The empirical evidence on identification of learners needs concerning the strategies to address the
challenges learners with visual impairment faced in inclusive education , it was discovered that the
challenges could be addressed by government training more teachers to handle learners with visual
impairment, well trained teachers to handle learners needs in some difficult topics, learners with visual
impairment should be taught verbal English starting from pre-school, parents to have basic skills in
Inclusive education . The local community to be sensitized to change their negative attitude towards
learners with visual impairment, teachers to be using same written with the learners, teachers to be
motivated with certain incentives, teachers to be talking
when teaching and learners should be provided with audio aids.
Page 31 of 55
4.3.2 Appropriate Instructional Materials
The researcher administered a question to ES ‘1’and HT ‘1’on what can be done to address the challenges
of Inclusive to learners visual impairment learners in terms of instructional materials. Their responses were
reflected in the following suggestions.
TH‘1'mentioned that:
“The learners who are facing the challenge of not being motivated during the lessons can be helped by the
teachers using effective appropriate instructional materials that can help them to have interest in the
learning process.”
HT '2'narrated that:
"Teachers should be provided with the appropriate needed materials by the ministry of education to
support the learning of learners with visual impairment."
The researcher also administered the question to the teachers on suggestions to address the academic
challenges learners with hearing impairment face when teachers were using instructional materials when
teaching.
TR‘1’ stated that:
“Appropriate teaching and learning materials in sign language should be provided to support leaning of
learners with visual impairment.”
TR‘2’ stated that:
“The school should provide the necessary appropriate audio teaching and learning materials for the
learners with visual impairment to help them follow classroom instruction needed for them in inclusive
education.”
TR‘3’ expressed that:
“Teachers needed to have appropriate teaching and learning materials to help learners with visual
impairment follow classroom instructions.”
“Teachers must use initiatives, appropriate instructional to braille draw the appropriate diagrams to help
the learners with visual impairment explain certain topics.”
TR‘5’ suggested that:
"Teachers should find relevant instructional materials to overcome learning and the appropriate materials
are audio charts and pictures braille objects, graphs, visual aids concrete projectors and audio text books
which are transcribed spoken.”
During the focus group discussion, the researcher also administered the question to the learners with
hearing impairment to find out their suggestions to address the challenges which they faced in terms of
academic performance.
LR ‘1’ suggested that:
“Teachers should be using braille charts while in class for us to see what they may be talking about while
Page 32 of 55
teaching.”
“Books in braille should be provided for us and some charts showing for difficult words to be stack in
class.”
LR‘3' suggested that:
“Teachers should be using simple materials for us to understand when teaching.”
Basing on the empirical findings on the strategies to address the challenges of Inclusive Education to
learners with visual impairment concerning the use of appropriate materials, it was suggested that, teachers
to be using appropriate instructional materials, find relevant materials to promote increased spoken in the
class room, ministry of education to provide the needed materials, teachers should use initiates, teachers
should use assorted appropriate instructional materials, need for well trained teachers to handle learners
with visual impairment, teachers to use appropriate audio aids media such as books, videos ,graphs and
charts, teachers to be innovative enough to use appropriate instructional materials that can make learners
with visual Impairment benefit from the lesson, the classroom should have appropriate talking walls.
4.3. 3 Curriculum
The researcher wanted to find out the strategies that could be put in place to address the challenges of
Inclusive Education to learner’s visual impairment concerning the curriculum. The researcher administered
the questionnaire, semi structured interviews to HT1’ and HT ‘2' and their suggested strategies are reflected
in the following responses.
HT‘1'stated that:
“The government should provide a different curriculum for the learners with visual impairment that would
exclude certain topics that seem difficult to them, as well as provide a separate national examination for
learners with visual impairment as such a curriculum will be learner friendly and address those identified
areas which are either not taught or require specific and direct teaching for example in science related
subjects.”
HT ‘2' suggested that:
“There was need to translate the curriculum into manageable entities that can be used in the classroom for
learners with visual impairment in terms of teaching and learning.’
The researcher also administered the question to the teachers during the focus group discussion to find out
the strategies that could be used to address the challenges Inclusive Education to learners with visual
impairment in terms of curriculum. The responses are reflected in the following suggestions.
TR‘1’ echoed that:
“The curriculum needs to be modified according to the level of the children with visual impairment.”
TR ‘2’responded by saying that:
“To create educational policies for learners with visual impairment the ministry of education must
collaborate with experienced special educators to create a comprehensive education policy to cater for
needs of learner with visual impairment in the curriculum.”
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TR ‘3’ mentioned that:
“The curriculum needs to be modified so that it’s content to suit the needs of the learners with visual
impairment as some topics were wrongly placed for learners with impairments.”
TR‘4’ suggested that:
The curriculum should be translated into manageable entities that can be used in the classroom for
teaching, instruction and for assessment because curriculum and assessment were keys areas in terms of
learners Inclusive Education.”
TR‘5'suggested that:
“The curriculum should be modified to fit the level of academic because the duration for exams does not fit
them.”
TR‘6' submitted that:
“There was need for the government to work on the curriculum and start preparing audio books for
learners with visual impairment in inclusive.”
During the focus group discussion, the learners also suggested on the strategies to be used to address the
challenges which they faced in terms of academic performance due to the usage of curriculum. Their
suggestions are reflected in the following responses.
"What we learn is difficult so there is need to make them simple for us to be understanding and passing
during the tests.”
LR‘2’ responded by mentioning that:
“All the braille books for us learners with visual impairment should be in in audios in all the subjects.”
LR‘4’ responded that:
“The government should provide separate brailed books for us learners with visual impairment.”
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The challenges identified by the respondents are summarized in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Table 1: Challenges cited by Visually Impaired Students
Challenges Frequency Percentage

Long distance from home to University 2 4
Late coming 2 4
Lack of tuition 3 6
Lack of writing materials 2 4
Lack of special needs lecturer 1 2
Handouts are given in print form 2 4
Socialization 2 4
Inaccessibility to lecture rooms 2 4
Writing problems 2 4
Usually at typing notes 2 4
Poor movement 2 4
Text books 3 6
Isolated 3 6
Movement that is pot holes around the university 3 6
Non cooperative staff 3 6
Competition with other students 2 4
Deprived attention/no attention 2 4
Dictation 1 2
Lack of equipment 3 6
Negative attitude 2 4
Reading problems 3 6
Usually under looked 3 6
Total 50 100
Table 1 shows that visually impaired students are faced by a lot challenges in achieving their academic goals:
6% are faced with reading problems, lack of equipment, isolation, lack of text books, movement problems and
tuition fees. Some of these students face challenges like materials, movement and mobility problems, negative
attitudes, academic competition with other students, and deprived attention in the lecture rooms due to noise
from non-disabled students.
Table 2: Challenges cited by Teachers
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Challenges Frequency Percent
Lack of knowledge of Braille 13 26.0
Noise from Braille machines 10 20.0
Quite Slow 8 16.0
Over reliance on buddies 7 14.0
Illustration on chalk board 3 6.0
Few writing materials 5 10.0
Failure to interpret Braille language
Total 50 100
Table 2 shows that several challenges are faced by visually impaired students according to lecturers 26% lack
knowledge of Braille, 20% of noise made by Braille, 16% are quite slow, 14% rely on buddies, 10% have few
writing materials, 8% fail to interpret and Braille language and 6% fail to see or observe illustrations on
chalkboard. Most lecturers who handle visually impaired are less trained in teaching and handling of these
students. The methods of teaching that they use such as lecture methods and dictation of notes to students do
not favour the proper teaching and learning of the students. These teachers do not understand Braille instruction
which is used by visually impaired students. So they end up examining and assessing them using inappropriate
methods that make the study not to perform well. The way these students write their responses is also a
challenge in that some of them use Braille which is not transcribed into normal English language. So some
lectures have to look for transcribers of Braille which sometimes is very difficult. What if the transcriber is not
efficient is also another problem which may make these students to actually acquire well academically.
Table 3: Challenges by University Administrators

Challenges faced Frequency Percent
Problems with registration 11 22.0
Lack of staff trained in Braille 13 26.0
Receiving help from guides during exams 08 16.0
Too slow when writing exams 04 8.0
Isolation 10 20.0
Lack of staff to handle blind 04 8.0
Total 50 100
According to the University administrators, there are a number of challenges faced by visually students at
University 26% lack staff which is trained in Braille, 22% of the visually impaired students find problems while
registering, 20% of these students are usually isolated, 16% receive help from their helpers or guides, while 8%
lack administrative staff to handle issues of disability and are also too slow while writing exams. Lack of
training of university administrators in issues of disability on challenges faced by the visually impaired students.
Most of them do not understand the Brailing language used by the blind. They also find problems with
registering or feeding their marks into the university systems.
Table 4: Challenges cited by Non-Visually impaired students

Challenge Frequency Percent
Lack of Brailed text books 11 22.0
Mobility problem 13 26.0
Lack of hand outs 7 14.0
Dictation- they are slow 5 10.0
Difficulty in writing course works 4 8.0
Poor spellings 2 4.0
Lack of machines like laptops, computers and Braille machines 3 6.0
Examination time is not enough 3 6.0
Lack of accommodation 2 4.0
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Total 50 100
Table 4 shows that non-visually impaired students find that 26% of the visually impaired students have
challenges with their movement, 22% lack of brailed text books,14% of all hand outs are given in typed print
which does not favor the blind students, 10% are show while brailing dictated notes by the lecturers, 8% find
difficulty in writing course work, 6% lack machine such as laptops, Braille, computers and also examination
time or duration is inadequate for proper completion, 4% of the visually impaired students lack accommodation
and have poor spellings while writing examinations, course works or notes.
In summary the visually impaired students face the following challenges; general lack of training in the use of
Braille instruction, lack of Braille machines and their materials, slow in writing during lectures and during
exams and problems in their mobility around the university.
4.4 Summary
The chapter presented the study findings on exploring the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners
with visual impairment at a selected secondary schools in Kabwe District. The discussion was in line with
the objectives of the study which were: To explore the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with
visual impairment to establish challenges the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual
impairment. To suggest strategies to address the challenges learners with visual faced in Inclusive visual
impairment .The study found that the challenges of inclusive education was very high because teachers had
difficulties in identifying learners needs, teachers lack the skill of identifying learners needs, teachers failed
to understand the needs of the learners, teachers did not understand the learners, the syllabus did not cater
for the identification of learners needs, teachers negative attitude on the usage of instructional materials,
only few teachers used instructional materials , there was erratic funding in schools to buy instructional
materials, appropriate materials very expensive, teachers cannot modify the curriculum, examinations not
modified only one curriculum approved by curriculum development center and teachers only followed the
ordinary syllabus when teaching. The study examined respondents view on the challenges the challenges of
Inclusive Education to learners with visual, and it was discovered that the challenges of Inclusive Education
was very high because such as; learners needs were neglected by the community and families, unfriendly
school environment, inadequate braille skills by the teachers ,communication barrier, health related
problems, teachers did not know some words in sign ,lack of appropriate instructional materials, teachers
did not use visual aids, learners did not concentrate much when teachers did not use appropriate
instructional materials, lack of adapted materials such as teachers guide and learners books, inability to
complete the planned work by the teachers. It was also found that learners did not learn well their needs
classroom, teachers lacked the skill of identifying learners needs, needs not taken into consideration by
teachers, teachers failed to understand the learners, teachers were using inappropriate instructional
materials ,unable to use instructional materials, teachers could not improvise instructional materials,
teachers were not competent in spoken as some words had wrong spoken, learners did not know braille the
curriculum was not modified, examinations were not modified, teachers did not modify the curriculum,
only one curriculum approved by curriculum development center.
The study also established the strategies that be used to address the challenges Of Inclusive Education such
as the use of correct word teachers to identify learners needs, use of appropriate instructional materials,
teachers should be using same spoken language for the same words, teachers to be using total
communication when teaching and also face the learners with visual impairment for teachers handling
Page 37 of 55
learners with visual impairment to be trained in seeing the parents and the community to be sensitized on
visual impairment in order to change their negative attitude towards learners with visual impairment, school
to provide appropriate instructional materials to teachers. Furthermore, the government needs to strain more
teachers to handle learners with visual impairment, teachers should use Audio aid media such as audios
graphs, audio and projectors for the learners to hear the curriculum to be modified for the learners and
simplified to meet their individual needs of learners with visual impairment. Finally in order to overcome
Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment the examinations council of Zambia
should be preparing separate examinations papers and all the questions in sign language not in Standard
English.
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 Discussion of the findings
This chapter discuss the findings of the study according to difficult themes which were in line with
objectives, for this study on the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment. The
discussion take into consideration the following objectives to explore the Challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment. To establish challenges faced by learners with visual
impairment. To suggest strategies for addressing the challenges of inclusive education to learners with
visual impairment. The discussion will also involves the sub themes which are Identification of learner’s
needs, appropriate instructional materials and curriculum. The chapter with end with summary
5.1 Challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment.
The current study findings concerning Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment
was discovered that Teachers do not seem to have interest in learning of pupils with visual impairment in
that they hardly pay attention to unique learning needs of the learners as lessons are presented, sometimes
they don’t understand what teachers teach and no attention is given and this negatively affects the the
learners with visual impairment. Learners’ needs were not identified because teachers lack the skill to use
when identifying the needs of the leaners with visual impairment resulting in learner’s stigmatization in
their classroom.
The findings of the study were similar with Msuya (2005) Malawi suggests that necessary facilities
like teaching and learning materials, equipment and some environmental settings that are important for
children with special needs should be considered in an inclusive context. Specifically, he mentioned
facilities like Braille materials, audio and visual devices, various teaching aids, mobility equipment like
white cane for the blind, special classroom designs and toilets are necessary for students with special needs.
In contrast, the findings of this study indicated that there is a shortage of Braille, reference book
written in Braille, audio recorder and other necessary materials in the on the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment the previous study discovered that learners’ needs were not
identified because teachers lack the skill to use when identifying the needs of the leaners with visual
impairment resulting in learners stigmatization in their classroom but the current study discovered that
learners needs where not identified.
5.1.2 Appropriate instructional materials
Page 38 of 55
was discovered that Our teachers just come to class they explain and the write and exercise without using
any braille charts or audio for us to hear or even atlases for us to ready the maps in geography and I have
never seen any of our teachers coming to class with braille objectives unless only the teacher for home
economics where never she is teaching, she will bring something for us to to ready and almost every one
fail to grasp the lesson. However, Heward and Orlansky (1992) claim that regardless of the degree of
impairment, teaching procedure for students with special needs is implemented based on special time
allotment for task completion.
5.11.3 Curriculum
was discovered that Teachers cannot modify the curriculum for learners with visual impairment because
they wreathe same exams with those who are able to see and this affects them so much and The curriculum
was not modified and our learners with visual impairment they don’t learn well in their classes the previous
study discovered that Polloway and Patton (1997) emphasize periodic assessment is vital in inclusive
education. According to Polloway and Patton (1997), since children need change from month to month and
from year to year, regular periodic assessment must be conducted. The findings also indicated that teachers
did not how to modify curriculum their speed while presenting the lessons in order to help the learners with
visual impairment.
5.2 To establish challenges faced by learners with visual impairment
The current study findings on the suggestion challenges faced by learners with visual impairment
concerning Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment was discovered that
Learners with visual impairment face challenges which may include various form of neglect from the
community, their families and more particularly the unfriendly school environment and unclear school
policies which does not promote their learning, this results into stigmatization. And Many teachers do not
know how to use braille and visual-impaired learners too are not conversant with it. This creates
communication barrier for learners’ needs making learners visual impairment not to learn well. Therefore
the previous research said wagan(1992) Nigeria suggested that testing procedures may have to be modified
for the students who are visually impaired. Reading braille takes considerably longer time than reading
standard print and it may be necessary either to extend the amount of time for completion of tests or reduce
the number of test items, such learners should not be penalized if they cannot finish tests because of the
tools they are using.
5.2.2 Appropriate instructional materials
The current study findings concerning the establish challenges faced by learners with visual impairment
was discovered that In the school teachers don’t use things that I can see when learning such as oral spoken
or story books for me to read this makes it very difficult for me to learn and get good results in class and
learn well by seeing and connecting to what the teacher is explaining but our teachers just come in class
Page 39 of 55
without using things such as videos or charts showing things which they may be explaining this makes me
not to remember things easily that’s why in in inclusive I don’t learn well in class as I just depend on what
the teacher explains in class. The previous research said order to ensure that, inclusive education takes
place there are many things to be considered. Concerning this, Msuya (2005) said that necessary
facilities like teaching and learning materials, equipment and some environmental settings that are
important for children with special needs should be considered in an inclusive context.
5.2.3 Curriculum
was discovered that The reading materials are not enough, we have to share one text among five or six of us
and at times it’s difficult to concentrate if we share because we end up chatting with one another and by the
time the teacher finishes teaching, we will have learnt completely nothing in this school teachers don’t use
things that I can see when learning such as pictures, audios or story books for me to read this makes it very
difficult for me to learn and get good results in class. The previous research explained that learners with
visual impairment take longer time to read a text than students with normal vision Students with visual
impairment complete their work very slowly due to the nature of their impairment (Mastropieri &
Scruggs, 2010). Therefore, extra time allowance is extremely important for them to process visual
information.
5.3 To suggest strategies for addressing the challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment.
was discovered that Teachers to handle learners with visual impairment should be fully trained in braille
reading in order to effectively communicate to learners needs and avoid communication barrier for the
learners with hearing impairment. There was need to have well trained teachers in special education who
would be able to handle more difficult topics in braille reading in order to address learners needs in
overcoming Challenges of inclusive education for learners with visual impairment. The previous said that
In order to ensure that, inclusive education takes place there are many things to be considered. Concerning
this, Msuya (2005) suggests that necessary facilities like teaching and learning materials, equipment
and some environmental settings that are important for children with special needs should be considered in
an inclusive context. Specifically, he mentioned facilities like Braille materials, audio and visual devices,
various teaching aids, mobility equipment like white cane for the blind, special classroom designs and
toilets are necessary for students with special needs. In contrast, the findings of this study indicated that
there is a shortage of Braille, reference book written in Braille, audio recorder and other necessary
materials in the library. The finding revealed that the same examination is set for all types of learners who
are attending in the same grade level. But this is not accepted by different research studies. For instance,
Gearheart et al. (1992) suggested that testing procedures may have to be modified for the students who are
visually impaired. Reading braille takes considerably longer time than reading standard print and it may be
necessary either to extend the amount of time for completion of tests or reduce the number of test items,
such students should not be penalized if they cannot finish tests because of the tools they are using.
Page 40 of 55
5.3.2. Appropriate instructional materials
The current study findings concerning strategies of overcoming Challenges of inclusive education to
learners with visual impairment was discovered that In terms of learners needs in spoken words English
should be introduced to learners with visit impairment at an early grade so that when they come to
secondary school, they will not have challenges in learning. There was need to simplify some aspects in
braille reading for easier explanations of certain topics more clearly to avoid challenges in learners needs so
that comprehensions and cloze tests would be much easier for learners with visual impairment.
5.3.2 Curriculum
The current study findings concerning strategies to use to overcome Challenges of Challenges of inclusive
education to learners with visual impairment was discovered that to provide a different curriculum for
learners with Visual impairment ,the curriculum should have sign language to help even teachers with
visual impairment ,all books for learners with visual impairment should be transcribed in sign
language ,exams for learners with visual impairment to be in braille and audio in all the Subjects, the
government should modify the curriculum according, to include education when modifying the curriculum
involve teachers who handle learners with visual impairment and provide separate audio books for learners
with visual impairment.
5.4 Summary
The chapter presented the study findings on exploring the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners
with visual impairment at a selected secondary schools in Kabwe District. The discussion was in line with
the objectives of the study which were: To explore the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with
visual impairment to establish challenges the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual
impairment. To suggest strategies to address the challenges learners with visual faced in Inclusive visual
impairment .The study found that the challenges of inclusive education was very high because teachers had
difficulties in identifying learners needs, teachers lack the skill of identifying learners needs, teachers failed
to understand the needs of the learners, teachers did not understand the learners, the syllabus did not cater
for the identification of learners needs, teachers negative attitude on the usage of instructional materials,
only few teachers used instructional materials , there was erratic funding in schools to buy instructional
materials, appropriate materials very expensive, teachers cannot modify the curriculum, examinations not
modified only one curriculum approved by curriculum development center and teachers only followed the
ordinary syllabus when teaching. The study examined respondents view on the challenges the challenges of
Inclusive Education to learners with visual, and it was discovered that the challenges of Inclusive Education
was very high because such as; learners needs were neglected by the community and families, unfriendly
school environment, inadequate braille skills by the teachers ,communication barrier, health related
problems, teachers did not know some words in sign ,lack of appropriate instructional materials, teachers
did not use visual aids, learners did not concentrate much when teachers did not use appropriate
instructional materials, lack of adapted materials such as teachers guide and learners books, inability to
complete the planned work by the teachers. It was also found that learners did not learn well their needs
classroom, teachers lacked the skill of identifying learners needs, needs not taken into consideration by
teachers, teachers failed to understand the learners, teachers were using inappropriate instructional
Page 41 of 55
materials ,unable to use instructional materials, teachers could not improvise instructional materials,
teachers were not competent in spoken as some words had wrong spoken, learners did not know braille the
curriculum was not modified, examinations were not modified, teachers did not modify the curriculum,
only one curriculum approved by curriculum development center. The study also established the strategies
that be used to address the challenges Of Inclusive Education such as the use of correct word teachers to
identify learners needs, use of appropriate instructional materials, teachers should be using same spoken
language for the same words, teachers to be using total communication when teaching and also face the
learners with visual impairment for teachers handling learners with visual impairment to be trained in
seeing the parents and the community to be sensitized on visual impairment in order to change their
negative attitude towards learners with visual impairment, school to provide appropriate instructional
materials to teachers.
CHAPTER SIX
Conclusion and recommendations
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6.0 Overview
The chapter present the conclusion, recommendations and future research on the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment. The conclusion and the recommendation will be according to
the research finding and objectives.
6.1 Conclusion
Based on the findings of the study, it is possible to draw the following conclusions. First, the schools has
Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment and these Challenges did not pave the
way to implement inclusive education. And the school faced many challenges to maintain inclusive
education. Some of the challenges the learners with visual impairment in inclusive education in this school
are lack of educational materials, lack of skill assessment to identify and know the degree of the needs of
children with visual impairment. Although teachers tried to use different teaching strategies to involve
students with special needs in all activities, they do not provide extra time to complete their activities, and
the testing procedures are not modified and adapted for them. There is a shortage of special educational
materials and equipment in the library and resource room such as handouts, modules and reference books
written in Braille.
6.2 Recommendations
In the light of the findings, the following recommendations were made:
1. The schools needs a visual unit to enhance service delivery to learners with visual enrolled in the
institution. The unit can address Challenges of Inclusive education of discrimination, braille, and source for
assistive teaching and learning devices among learners with visual impairment.
2. The Faculty of Education should develop a visual impairment policy to guide the implementation of
inclusive education those with visual impairments. A visual policy can guide the implementation of
Inclusive education in the faculty in that teachers and learner would know what is expected of them in their
interaction with learner with visual.
3. Teachers need to be sensitized and capacity built in inclusive education methodologies and curriculum
adaptation to be able to meet the learning needs of students with visual impairments enrolled in the
Inclusive classroom.
4. The government should build Inclusive library needs to be made accessible to students with visual
impairments. Access to the library should begin with orienting learners with visual impairments to library
area, how they can access online materials using computers and transcribing some of the vital books in
braille. A separate computer room installed with internet and JAWs allocated to students with visual
impairments within the library would greatly enhance access to learning materials for students with visual
impairments.
6.3 future Research

The research was on the challenges of Inclusive education to learners with visual impairment the researcher
recommended that the future research will focus on the same title administered in Kabwe district in order to
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validate what was discovered.
REFERENCES
Agasa, M. & Azorin C. (2004). Guiding schools on their journey towards inclusion.
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24 (1), 58-76.
Ainscow, M. Dyson, A. (2012). Making schools effective for all:

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Rethinking the task. School Leadership and Management,
32 (3), 197- 213, 2012.
Akinsola, (2016). An African perspective of disability in relation to
current trends in inclusive education. In Phasha N.
Condy J. (Eds.), Inclusive Education: An African
Perspective. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Anne, N. M. (2004). The Gambia: Department of state for Basic and Secondary Education, Special Needs
Education.
Bob, G. (2002). Learning Disabilities (4th edition). London: Oxford University Press.
Bell, E. (2010). US National certificate in literary Braille: History and current

administration. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 104: 489-498.
Bell, J. (2005). Doing your research project: A guide for first time researchers in
education, health and social sciences. (4th ed). Milton Keynes: Open
University Press.
Best, A.B. (1992). Teaching children with visual impairments. Milton Keynes: Open
University Press.
Chifiyo, J.W. & Kahn, J.V. (2007). Research in education. (10th ed.) Boston: Pearson
Education.
Creswell, J.W. & Plano Cl. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. London:
SAGE.
Engelbrecht, P., Oswald, M. (2006). Promoting the implementation of inclusive

education in school in South Africa. British Journal of
Special Needs Education, 33 (3): 121-129.
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Morgan, D.L. (2014). Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods: A pragmatic
approach. Los Angeles: SAGE.
UNESCO (1994). The Salamanca Statement and framework for action on special needs
education. Paris: UNESCO.
Wolffe, K. E., (2011). Instruction in areas of the expanded core curriculum linked to
transition outcomes for students with visual impairments.
LIST OF APPENDIXES
K WAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
KABWE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
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DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY STUDIESAPPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM FOR RESPONDENTS
Dear respondent,
You have been selected to participate in this research that is investigating the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment in kabwe District. I am kindly requesting for your voluntary
participation in this study. I would appreciate if you could answer all the questions asked and give me the
feedback as soon as possible. Please read the information below and ask for clarification about anything
you do not understand before deciding whether to participate or not.
CONDITIONS
1. Your views will be treated as confidential. Your name will not be written down during the research or in
the final report.
2. In this research, you will be required to fill in a questionnaire or participate in an interview for about 30
to 40 minutes.
3. For interviews, you will be required to answer some oral questions on the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment Kabwe District and the researcher will use an Audio Cassette
Recorder to record the proceeding accurately.
4. As for the questionnaire, you will be required to fill in them according to the given instructions.
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH

ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY STUDIES
APPENDIX B: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION FOR PUPILS
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Section A:
Welcome note and Setting ground rules: I welcome you to this focus group discussion. Be assured of
confidentiality and the information will be for academic purposes only. Each one will be allowed to speak.
Discussion will take about 30-40 minutes
Section B: Questions
1. What are the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment at your school?
2. What is the attitude teachers to learners with visual impairment at in your school?
3. What are the teachers’ attitudes towards teaching learners with visual impairment in your school?
4. What challenges do you face in inclusive education which made you note to learn well at your school ?
5. What measures has the school put in place to overcome Challenges of inclusive education to learners
with visual impairment?
Section C: Closing and Thank youIs there anything else that you may wish to contribute that I did not
specifically ask about?
Thank you for your time.
As mentioned earlier, the information will be kept confidential and will be used for academic purposes
only.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH

APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR TEACHERS
Section A:
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I welcome you to this in-depth interview. Be assured of confidentiality and the information will be used for
academic purposes only. This interview should take about 25-30 minutes. This research seeks to establish
the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment in secondary schools of kabwe
District. As a class teacher you have been purposively selected to participate in this interview. These
findings are confidential and are for academic purposes only.
1. What challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment in your school?
2. To what extent is the challenges of inclusive education is rate among learners with visual impairment in
your school in the period 2020 to2023?
3. What is the learners attitudes towards inclusive education in your school?
4. What are the teachers’ attitudes towards teaching learners with visual impairment in your school?
5. To what extent do the attitudes of mainstream contribute to persistent Challenges of inclusive education
to learners with visual impairment in your school?
6. What measures has the school put in place in order to curb the challenges of Inclusive Education to
learners with visual impairment in your school?
7. What are the views of the teachers on school Inclusive Education among learners with visual impairment
in your school?
Is there anything else that you may wish to contribute that I did not specifically ask about?
only.
Page 49 of 55
IN ASSOCIATION WITH

APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR HEADTEACHERS
Section A:
I welcome you to this in-depth interview. Be assured of confidentiality and the information will be used for
academic purposes only. This interview should take about 25-30 minutes. This research seeks to establish
Page 50 of 55
the challenges of Inclusive Education to learners with visual impairment in secondary schools of kabwe
District. As a class teacher you have been purposively selected to participate in this interview. These
findings are confidential and are for academic purposes only.1. What challenges of inclusive education to
2. To what extent is the challenges of inclusive education is rate among learners with visual impairment in
your school in the period 2020 to2023? What is the learners attitudes towards inclusive education in your
school? What are the teachers’ attitudes towards teaching learners with visual impairment in your school?
5. To what extent do the attitudes of mainstream contribute to persistent Challenges of inclusive education
to learners with visual impairment in your school?
6. What measures has the school put in place in order to curb the challenges of Inclusive Education to
7. What are the views of the teachers on school Inclusive Education among learners with visual impairment
in your school? Is there anything else that you may wish to contribute that I did not specifically ask about?
only.
Page 51 of 55
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCADear
Sir/ Madam,
I am a student at kabwe institute of technology.

I hereby request to access your school to carry out a study on the challenges of Inclusive Education to
learners with visual impairment leading at your school in kabwe District. Inclusive refers to the
combination of learners despite of learning disability. This study will help various stakeholders such as the
Ministry of General Education, Nongovernmental Organization, School Administration, Teachers, Parents,
and Students, in the Policy formulation and interventions to curb school the challenges of Inclusive
Education to learners with visual impairment in kabwe District. While hoping for your favorable response I
remain,
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Yours Sincerely,
Allan Nkandb(sir).
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Dear
APPENDIX F: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

This research sought to establish the challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual impairment.
As a class teacher you have been purposively selected to participate in answering the questionnaire. The
findings of this study are confidential and are for academic purposes only, please answer all the questions
correctly. Below are statements regarding Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment in senior secondary schools in Kabwe District.
PART I: Social Demographic Information
1. Sex of respondent,. (a) Female [ ] (b) Male [ ]
2. What is your age. (a) 20 – 25 [ ] (b) 26 – 30 [ ] (c) 31 – 40 [ ] (d) 41 + [ ]
3. Level of education. (a) Certificate [ ] (b) Diploma [ ] (c) Degree [ ] (d) Masters [ ]
4. For how long have you been teaching in this school?
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(a) 1 year [ ] (b) 2 years [ (C) 3 years [ ] (d) 4 + years [ ]
PART II
Please read each statement carefully and circle or tick one appropriate number that suits your opinion.
CIRCLE OR TICK IN ONLY ONE COLUMN FOR EACH STATEMENT. Use the following five
point scale of the agreement and disagreement with the statement. 1= Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3
=Undecided, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree
S/N Challenges of inclusive education t Five Point Scale

5. Challenges of inclusive education 1 2 3 4 5
6. Identification of learners needs 1 2 3 4 5
7. curriculum 1 2 3 4 5
8. Appropriate material 1 2 3 4 5
9. 1 2 3 4 5
Identification of learners needs
10. Challenges of inclusive education 1 2 3 4 5

12. Identification of learners needs 1 2 3 4 5
14 The c h a l l e n g e s o f i n c l u s i v e e d u c a t i o n t o 1 2 3 4 5
leaners with visual impairment
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15. The challenges of inclusive in Grade 10. 1 2 3 4 5
18. Suggest attitudes of teachers to learners in inclusive 1 2 3 4 5
education
19. Teachers prefer teaching inclusive 1 2 3 4 5

20. There is negative attitude towards leaners with visual 1 2 3 4 5
impairment. Teacher
21. There is negative attitude to leaners with visual impairment 1 2 3 4 5

Parents.
26. Suggest measures which will help to overcome Challenges of inclusive education to learners with visual
impairment in your school
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………..............................................
27. What are your views on school dropout rates among girls in your school?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………… Thank you for your participation.
Page 55 of 55

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CHAPTER FOUR (4) ……………………………………………………………………. 16

1.5. RESEARCH QUESTION

1.6 SIGNIFICANCY OF THE STUDY

3.3.2 Lack of Clear Policies on Inclusive Education

3.2. STUDY SITE

3.9. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION

1.9.1 Institutional Approval

4.2.2. Appropriate Instructional materials

Table 1: Challenges cited by Visually Impaired Students

Challenges Frequency Percentage

Table 2: Challenges cited by Teachers

Table 3: Challenges by University Administrators

Table 4: Challenges cited by Non-Visually impaired students

6.3 future Research

Ainscow, M. Dyson, A. (2012). Making schools effective for all:

current trends in inclusive education. In Phasha N.

Condy J. (Eds.), Inclusive Education: An African

Perspective. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

Bell, E. (2010). US National certificate in literary Braille: History and current

Engelbrecht, P., Oswald, M. (2006). Promoting the implementation of inclusive

approach. Los Angeles: SAGE.

education. Paris: UNESCO.

transition outcomes for students with visual impairments.

K WAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY

KABWE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY

KABWE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

Thank you for your time.

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY

KABWE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

Thank you for your time.

KABWE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR HEADTEACHERS

Thank you for your time.

KABWE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCADear

I am a student at kabwe institute of technology.

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY

KABWE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DIRECTORATE OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

APPENDIX F: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

S/N Challenges of inclusive education t Five Point Scale

10. Challenges of inclusive education 1 2 3 4 5

13. Appropriate material 1 2 3 4 5

19. Teachers prefer teaching inclusive 1 2 3 4 5

21. There is negative attitude to leaners with visual impairment 1 2 3 4 5

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