Assistive Technologies for Inclusive Education in Tanzania: Position and Challenges from Mtwara Technical Secondary School.

Abstract

Students with special needs are socially and physically discriminated and thus denies them full participation in the society, hence inequality among diverse groups of the society. Discrimination of people with special needs might be reduced and bring in inclusion by providing them with quality education. Quality education involves provision of quality instructions that are accompanied with appropriate technology in the classroom. Today there are more adaptive technologies that can assist students with more severe needs in overcoming a wide range of limitations that hinder classroom participation. Although some countries have made major progresses in education of people with special needs, the fact remains that for the majority of developing countries, Tanzania in particular, the reality is doubtful. Generally, the study aims at exploring the position at which assistive technologies to aid teaching and learning of students with special needs and the challenges facing teachers and students in the inclusion setting. Specifically the study will investigate on the types and status of assistive technologies adopted the purpose of the adopted technologies and challenges encountered by both students and teachers in the inclusion setting. The study employed mainly a qualitative case study technique. Data were collected through in depth interviews with sixteen respondents where seven respondents were teachers of special education, five were students with visual impairment and four were students with hearing impairment. Respondents were obtained through purposive techniques. Data were analysed qualitatively based on emerging themes. The results show that, despite the fact that technology play a crucial role for students with special needs, there are few assistive technologies in terms of number and type. Challenges faced by both teachers and students include, social economic and academic challenges. The study recommends to the government, teachers, education stakeholders and students and the community at large.