Inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream schools in Ghana: influence of teachers’ and children’s characteristics

Abstract The issue of where to teach children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities has been a great concern as countries respond to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Salamanca Statement on inclusion of 1994. In this study, the responses of 500 trained and untrained mainstream primary school teachers selected from three of the ten regions of Ghana were analysed to investigate their attitudes to including children with SEN and disabilities in mainstream schools in Ghana. These attitudes were examined alongside teachers’ characteristics such as gender, age, length and level of teaching experience, and knowledge of SEN, and also the type, nature and degree of children’s SEN. The results showed that teachers in Ghana were positive towards the inclusion of children with SEN and disabilities with a few reservations which are elaborated. On the basis of the findings, conclusions were drawn that the inclusion agenda should be subject to national and local interpretation, aimed at ensuring that policies and regulations on SEN are fashioned to meet local situations and standards. Keywords: inclusiondisabilityteachers’ attitudesmainstreamspecial educational needssegregationGhanaSalamanca statement Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to the participating teachers and authorities of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports in Ghana for granting permission for the research to be carried out in selected schools in the country.