Vusumuzi Dube
Luckson Pasipanodya,Correspondent
Inclusive education is an integral part of the education system in any country. It seeks to level the ground for all learners and remove all forms of discrimination by giving children including those previously excluded, a fair chance to go to school, learn and develop the skills they need to thrive.
However, disability remains one of the major barriers to the effective provision of inclusive education across the globe. The international education topography is characterised by different trends with some tilted towards the embracement of total inclusivity.
Not only is inclusive education beneficial to learners with disabilities, it also benefits those without disabilities by enabling them to fully understand the value of diversity and the right to be different.
The importance of inclusive education is also demonstrated in fostering skills that learners use later in life. Education is a right for every child and it has to be availed inclusively regardless of physical or social limitations.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) defines inclusion as the transformation of the educational system to respond to diverse learners with the objective of dispelling discrimination.
Inclusion therefore, entails providing an optimal environment for all learners regardless of their disabilities as stated in Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that affords persons with disabilities the right to education without discrimination and on basis of equal opportunity at all levels. The article goes on to implore countries to ensure that persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system.
A number of platforms have been provided to deal with issues of inclusive education following the first world conference in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 which acknowledged the large number of vulnerable and marginalised groups of learners who were excluded from the education systems world-wide.
The Salamanca statement and framework of action on special needs education was adopted later at an international conference held at Salamanca in Spain in 1994 which greenlighted a strategy to include learners with special needs in the mainstream education by responding to their needs. It stated that schools integrating children with disabilities were combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all.
Zimbabwe has responded positively to calls for the establishment of inclusive education in primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions.
It has flowed in the tide of international conventions that seek to level the ground in relation to equal access to education since 1994. In 1998 a Commission led by Professor Cephas Nziramasanga was appointed and it came up with recommendations that were advancing inclusive education.
In 2015, Zimbabwe adopted a revised curriculum which advocated for inclusive education at large. This was implemented in 2017 and is currently in operation. While this has been noble, the education system has to accommodate emerging trends around inclusive education such as silent learning disabilities.
The country’s commitment is even seen in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s mission statement which is to promote and facilitate the provision of high quality inclusive and relevant early childhood development, primary and secondary education.
Equally important, Zimbabwe has various policies that promote inclusive education, such as the Education Act of 1987, which made education a right for all children including those with disabilities.
In the context of Zimbabwe, however, much of inclusivity has been biased towards physically challenged learners like those with hearing impairments, physical deformities, and visually impaired being absorbed into the mainstream school system.
Researchers and psychologists have however, been arguing that inclusive education is not inclusive if it still does deal with learners who have silent learning disabilities to which teachers are not very familiar with. Learning disabilities are multifaceted.
They go beyond the stereotypical perceptions of the disorder as simply reading difficulties or letter problems. They differ significantly, both in terms of the meanings they impact and the rigorousness of the impact experienced.
Silent learning disabilities can be defined as a hidden disability in a child. The children with learning disabilities do not look handicapped and their difficulties are not obvious. These undiagnosed learning disabilities are often misunderstood by both teachers and parents. Learners with silent learning disabilities are often accused of not listening, being lazy or clumsy resulting in low self-esteem and reduced motivation.
This heterogeneous group of disorders is manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of reading (dyslexia), writing (dysgraphia), or mathematical (dyscalculia) abilities despite intact senses, normal intelligence, proper motivation, and adequate socio-cultural opportunity, dyscalculia, auditory processing disorder, language processing disorder, nonverbal learning disabilities, and visual perceptual deficit.
As such, if the education system is not yet able to address this dimension of disability fully, then inclusive education is only quantified in terms of learner attendance which is a mismatch to the national educational objectives.
Most learners live with dyslexia which is a specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-based processing skills. It is the most common learning disability which can affect reading fluency; reading comprehension, recall, writing, spelling, and sometimes speech. It can exist along with other related disorders as the dominant disability.
However, its severity differs in each individual due to diversity and the cognitive development that different people go through. If teachers fail to identify this condition, they may prescribe a wrong solution for it thereby complicating the purpose of inclusive education.
Considering that learners are considered dull in schools, this silent learning disability may go unnoticed yet the government is pursuing inclusive education.
While inclusive education is a noble idea for broadminded national sustainable development, another commonly ignored silent learning disability affecting learners is dysgraphia. This is a specific learning disability diagnosed in childhood and it affects a person’s handwriting ability and fine motor skills.
Usually, it is characterised by poor writing skills that are suggestively lower for the child’s age, intelligence, and education level. Dysgraphia difficulties may include extremely bad handwriting and inconsistent spacing. It also makes it difficult for composing, writing as well as thinking and writing at the same time.
Again, inclusive education is impacted by dyscalculia and many learners are helpless victims. This is a type of specific learning disability that affects a person’s ability to understand numbers and learn mathematical facts and a struggle in learning arithmetic.
Individuals with this type of learning disability may also have abnormally poor comprehension of mathematics symbols, may struggle with memorising and organising numbers, have difficulty telling time, and have trouble with counting.
Most learners have problems with numbers or basic concepts are likely to show up early and problems related to reasoning appear in the later grades in learners. If this is not addressed early, learners tend to be characterised by a lot of labels which may not be correct in pursuit of inclusive education.
Inclusive education should also embrace learners with auditory processing disorders.
This is a deficit in neural processing of auditory stimuli that is not due to higher order language, cognitive and hearing loss, yet it is associated with difficulties in hearing disorder. It is not a problem with understanding meaning but it means the brain of the affected child does not hear sounds in the usual way.
It is a disorder that makes it difficult for sound to pass freely through the ear and be processed or interpreted by the brain. Even when the sounds are loud and clear enough to be heard, learners with this disorder are unable to distinguish minor variations between sounds in words. They may be unable to filter distinct noises and mistakes the order of sounds.
The brain misinterprets the information received and processed from the ear. In many ways, it can affect the way the child speaks, their ability to read, write, and spell. Inclusive education should also cater for this disorder for effective implementation and without this, it is not yet inclusive.
Language processing disorder is a type of auditory processing disorder in which people have trouble putting meaning to the sound groups that make up words, phrases, and stories. This disorder arises when an individual has specific challenges in processing spoken language that impacts both receptive and expressive language.
These language-related issues could be caused by a variety of circumstances, including a limited vocabulary, a concrete thinking style, difficulties remembering and keeping track of what is said, or organizing one’s thoughts. For example, learners with a language-based disorder may find it difficult to locate the appropriate words and phrases and to follow a fast-paced conversation.
This condition can make it challenging for learners to write effectively. Therefore, there is more to inclusive education than one can imagine. It has to stretch beyond learner attendance if it is to yield results. While inclusive education is important, it should go beyond physical disabilities and embrace a host of disorders that are not visible but present.
For it to be successful all stakeholders including parents, teachers, specialist teachers and children with disabilities should work together towards this national educational vision.
There is need therefore to train many specialist teachers for inclusive education implementation with a tilt towards learners with silent disability.
Online Reporter