Accessibility, Attitudes, and Social Interaction: The Triple Challenge for Students with Visual and Physical Impairments in Primary Schools

Ethiopia has ratified international conventions mandating inclusive education, yet implementation gaps persist. This mixed-methods study assessed school environment accessibility for students with visual and physical impairments in six Ethiopian primary schools. Data were collected from 133 teachers, 35 school leaders, 21 students with disabilities, and 5 special needs experts using questionnaires, interviews, and observations. School community attitudes varied according to perceived impairment severity – positive towards mild/moderate disabilities, negative towards severe disabilities. Physical environments demonstrated severe accessibility deficits: ramps (M = 2.60, SD = 1.38), accessible toilets (M = 2.00, SD = 1.22), and obstacle-free walkways (M = 2.60, SD = 1.25). No school possessed a wheelchair-accessible toilet; functional ramps existed at only one building entrance. Substantial discrepancy emerged between school leaders’ self-assessed role performance (M = 4.57, SD = 0.43) and teacher perceptions (M = 3.20, SD = 0.99). Regression analysis revealed that attitudes (β = .499, p < .001) and physical environment (β = .575, p < .001) each independently predicted social interaction, together explaining 57.5% of variance. Despite Ethiopia’s progressive policy framework, substantial gaps persist between legislative commitments and school-level implementation. School environment accessibility is an interconnected triple challenge requiring simultaneous intervention across attitudinal, physical, and social domains.