Challenges and intervention mechanisms for students with visual impairment at the University of Gondar Ethiopia

Although previous studies have documented barriers to inclusive education for students with disabilities, limited qualitative evidence exists on the challenges, resilience, and intervention mechanisms experienced by undergraduate students with visual impairment in Ethiopian universities. This study explored these challenges and the possible intervention mechanisms at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia. A qualitative case study design was employed at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia. A total of 22 undergraduate students with visual impairment participated in the study ( n = 22), including 10 students who took part in individual in-depth interviews and 12 students who participated in two focus group discussions, with six participants in each group. The interviews and discussions were conducted in Amharic, transcribed, translated into English, and thematically analyzed through coding and categorization. The study identified three major groups of challenges. First, participants faced economic difficulties, including lack of financial support and extra costs for readers and learning materials. Second, they reported institutional and infrastructural barriers such as limited access to Braille books, computers with screen readers, accessible classrooms, roads, toilets, and cafeteria services. Third, they experienced social and psychological problems, including stigma, negative teacher attitudes, dependence on others, stress, and occasional sexual harassment. Despite these challenges, students demonstrated resilience through peer support, religious practices, music, and advocacy for better services. The findings show that undergraduate students with visual impairment at the University of Gondar face interconnected economic, institutional, infrastructural, and social barriers. Improving access to assistive devices, inclusive financial support, adapted infrastructure, awareness creation, and teacher training would help address the problems identified in this study.