INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN: PERSPECTIVES OF STAKEHOLDERS PJAEE, 19(1) (2022)

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN: PERSPECTIVES OF

STAKEHOLDERS

Abdul Basit1, Muhammad Ashfaq2, Muhammad Irfan Arif3, Mubashar Ahmed Gulshan4
1
Ph. D Scholar Institute of Special Education University of the Punjab, Lahore
2
Assistant Professor University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan
3
University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan
4
Ph. D Scholar, Institute of Special Education University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: [email protected], [email protected] , [email protected]
4
[email protected]

Abdul Basit, Muhammad Ashfaq, Muhammad Irfan Arif, Mubashar Ahmed Gulshan.
Inclusive Education in Pakistan: Perspectives of Stakeholders -- Palarch’s Journal of
Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology 19(1), 1426-1435. ISSN 1567-214x

Keywords: Inclusive Education, General Education Teachers, Special Education

Techers.

ABSTRACT
Teachers in both general education and special education were asked about their perspectives
on inclusive education as part of the research. The primary goal of this study was to gain insight
into the views of Pakistani teachers on inclusive education. Self-developed instruments were
used to gather the data. There were 39 questions on the survey. Pilot testing and expert opinion
were used to confirm the instrument's validity and reliability. A reliability coefficient known
as Cronbach alpha was calculated using SPSS. As a whole, the correlation coefficient was 0.80.
The data was analyzed using mean values and a t-test. According to meticulous data analysis,
all teachers' perceptions of the practice of Inclusive education are true and all instructors
support it. It was also revealed that there is no substantial difference between the views of
general and special-needs educators towards inclusive education. The study presented
suggestions for policy makers to improve the current scene of inclusive education for further
betterment of inclusive education.

INTRODUCTION
When it comes to inclusion, it's not only about disabilities and schools. Social
fairness is at the heart of inclusion. What kind of inclusion requests would we
wish to make from the rest of the world? Which skills and responsibilities are
required to thrive in different societies? We can create a better society for all of

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us if we hang on to Inclusion as a model of social equity (Sapon-Shevin, 2003).

A school's commitment to inclusion should not be viewed as an add-on. The
school's mission, reasoning, principles, routines, and exercises demand that this
be taken for granted. Instead of a member who is included in an ordinary school,
full inclusion must be deeply ingrained in the school's founding, missions,
convictions, and day-to-day activities (Segal, 2007). This refers to how we plan
and implement our schools, programmes and activities so that all students can
learn and participate together without any form of prejudice. When it comes to
education, Sandkull defines Inclusive Education as, "The process of tending and
responding to the diverse requirements of all learners and to enhance training"
(Sandkull, 2007).

Ballard (2003) characterized inclusive education as "non-prejudicial regarding

handicap, society and sexual orientation. It includes all special needs students
in a group, with no exemptions and regardless of their educated person,
physical, tangible or other contrast, having equivalent rights to get to the
socially esteemed educational program of their general public as full-timed
esteemed parts of age-fitting standard classes. Inclusive accentuates differences
over osmosis striving to keep away from the colonization of minority experience
by predominant modes of inclusions and activity”.

The essential standard of the inclusive educationist that all youngsters ought to
learn together, wherever conceivable, paying little respect to any troubles, or
other contrasts they may have. Inclusive education must perceive and react to
the assorted needs of their special needs students, pleasing both distinctive
styles and rates of learning and guaranteeing quality instruction to all through
proper curricula, hierarchical plans, showing methodologies, asset utilization
and associations with their groups. There ought to be a continuum of help and
administrations to match the continuum of exceptional needs experienced in
every school (Wang, 2009).

The vicinity of special needs students with inclusion gives an impetus to

learning open doors and encounters that may not generally be a piece of the
educational program, particularly identifying with social equity, preference,
value, et cetera (Jorgensen, 2007). Based on the encounters reported by the
members, fruitful inclusion brought about expanded understanding of contrast
and differences by the ordinarily creating special needs students in the
classroom (Finke, Mcnaughton, & Drager, 2009).

According to early researchers (Wehmeyer & Agran, 2006), the general training
classroom is the best location for students to acquire the general education
instructional module. Students with scholarly and other formative disabilities
who are taught in all instruction classrooms show better performance in reading
and math (McGhie et.al., 2013) and higher gains in flexible conduct when
compared to students with sense and other formative inclusion who are taught
in specific settings. After doing research on students' academic conclusions, it
was discovered that students with severe disabilities have more scholarly
reactions and lower levels of competing behaviours when they are in all
instruction classrooms compared to the bespoke curriculum setting (Mortweet,
Utley, Walker, Dawson, Delquadri, Reddy, Greenwood, Hamilton, & Ledford,

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1999). Classrooms in general instruction provided more guidance, more whole-

class direction, and tended to focus on academic content more than specialized
curriculum classrooms. Non-disabled associates were used more frequently
while grown-ups were utilized less (Helmstetter et.al., 1998). Students' social
and interpersonal skills improve when they are taught in inclusive classrooms
(Fisher & Meyer, 2002).

The standard educational system in Pakistan works freely for general

educational systems. Such isolation is additionally apparent in private sector.
The showing-learning paradigm fails to take into account the unique learning
needs of children. The population of Pakistan with a disability was 3286630 in
1998, accounting for 2.54 percent of the total population, according to the
national census. 2.85 percent of people with disabilities are men, while 2.21
percent are women. In 1998, (Statistics). The figure is wildly exaggerated, as it
is likely that moderate and mild special needs pupils were not included in the
definition of incapacity. According to the most logical explanation, the
registration staff was ill-prepared to recognize and classify children with
disabilities. In 2002, Pakistan's government approved a national policy for
people with disabilities on the recommendations of the Ministry of Women
Development, Social Work, and Special Education. In addition to
mainstreaming, this strategy included sections on inclusive education and
training, and it also laid out the standards for its implementation (Ishfaq &
Rana,2015).

The act of Inclusive Education is becoming step by step in Pakistan. Training

arrangements are likewise concentrating on the idea of Inclusive Education in
Pakistan. In the field of examination in Education, the specialists and
researchers are advancing their proposals for Inclusive Education, as it
unquestionably give chances to the uncommon special needs students to exceed
expectations in their field of scholastics alongside typical special needs students
at standard. However, still the idea of Inclusive Education needs to be
elucidated. The impression of inclusive instruction stakeholders is not yet clear.
There is an unusual assorted qualities in the thoughts and observation about
Inclusive Education. Such a gap in reasonable understanding of Inclusive
Education has incited the inclusion of the specialist to lead a study in this field
of learning and comprehension. The primary proposition of the researchers is to
get understanding and perceptions of teachers in general education and special
education about Inclusive Education.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY

1. To explore the perceptions of General Education Teachers about the
inclusive education in Pakistan.
2. To know the perceptions of Special Education Teachers about the
inclusive education in Pakistan.
3. To find out the difference between the perceptions of General education
teachers and Special Education Teachers about inclusive education in Pakistan.

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HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

Ho1: There is no significant difference between the perceptions of General
education teachers and Special Education Teachers about inclusive education in
Pakistan.

Significance Of the Study

The lack of access to education for both children and adults with disabilities is
a major issue in the disability area, and it affects both children and adults. This
is a very significant issue because education is a fundamental right for all
people, as entrenched in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
protected by a number of international conventions. Across the vast majority of
countries, there is a significant disparity between the educational possibilities
available to impaired children and those available to non-disabled children. It
will simply not be able to attain the aim of Education for All until we bring
about a thorough transformation of the current environment (Lindqvist, 1999).
The practice of Inclusive Education is growing day by day in Pakistan.
Education policies are also focusing on the concept of Inclusive Education in
Pakistan. In the field of research in Education, the researchers and scholars are
putting forward their recommendations in favor of Inclusive Education, as it
surely provide opportunities to the special students to excel in their field of
academics along with normal students at mainstream. But, still the concept of
Inclusive Education needs to be clarified. The perception of inclusive education
stakeholders is not yet clear. There is a strange diversity in the ideas and
perception about Inclusive Education. Such a gap in conceptual understanding
of Inclusive Education has provoked the attention of the researcher to conduct
a study in this field of knowledge and understanding. The main intention of the
researcher is to get insight into the perceptions of inclusive education
stakeholders about the concept of Inclusive Education.

The study will surely play a significant role in the field of knowledge and
understanding about inclusive education and adds into the literature related to
inclusive education. Moreover, the findings of the study will be helpful to the
policy makers to modify their policies according to the mind set of stakeholders
of inclusive education.

Methodology and Procedure

The study was descriptive in nature, further it was survey research. A sample of
50 General Education Teachers and 50 Special Education teachers was taken by
using convenient sampling technique. A self- developed Questionnaire was
designed to obtain perceptions of various stakeholders. The questionnaire
covered the following areas of Inclusive Education.

• Aims, goals and objectives of Inclusive Education

• Vision and mission of Inclusive Education
• Learning experiences in inclusive education
• Learning environment of inclusive education
• Family and community role in inclusive education

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• Leadership and human resource management practices for inclusive

education
• Quality assurance in inclusive education
• Teachers’ professional development for inclusive education
• Instructional material and instructional strategies in inclusive education
• Classroom management in inclusive education
• Social cohesion in inclusive education
• Assessment, measurement and evaluation procedures in inclusive
education
• Role of inclusive education for social development of students
• Problems and issues in inclusive education

Internal consistency reliability was measured using Cronbach's Alpha, which

was determined by examining how all items in a test relate to other test times
and to the whole scale. This indicates that the items on the questionnaire are
internally consistent and reliable, as indicated by the value of Cronbach's Alpha
of the questionnaire for understanding of inclusion, which was 0.80. The data
acquired through a questionnaire of stakeholders was analysed in order to
determine the percentage of respondents who had varied perceptions of the
situation. It was calculated by determining how all items in a test relate to each
other as well as to the total test scores that the Cronbach's Alpha could be used
to evaluate internal consistency reliability. The questionnaire's reliability
statistics were calculated in order to confirm the high quality of the instruments
used. On the mean score of the respondents, one sample t-test was performed,
with 75 percent of the maximum score serving as a cut score or test value, in
order to assess the following questions of the study,

1. What is the perception of teachers (General & Special Education

Teachers) about the inclusive education?
Independent sample t-test was applied on the mean score of the subjects to
analyze the following questions of the study i.e.:
2. What is the difference of Perception between General and Special
Education teachers about Inclusive Education?

One Sample T Test Between Cut Score and Mean Score of The Responses of
Stakeholders of Inclusive Education

One sample t-test was applied on the mean score of the respondents by
considering 75% of the maximum score as a cut score or test value to analyze.

Table 1: One sample t test between cut score and mean score of the responses
of general teachers about perceptions of inclusive education.

One Sample t-test

Test Value =117

N T Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Diff Mean SD

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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN: PERSPECTIVES OF STAKEHOLDERS PJAEE, 19(1) (2022)

50 -2.186 49 .034 -2.980 114.02 9.637

The mean score of 50 respondents was 114.02. One Sample t-test was used by
applying test value = 117 (75% or cut score = 117), the t value was -2.186 and
the þ value i.e. level of significant (two tailed) is .034 which is less than 0.05.
The mean value is 114.02 which is less than the test value. It revealed that there
is a significant difference between the mean value and test value. It indicates
that perceptions of general educators are significantly less than the test value
i.e. 75% of total score.

Table 2: One sample t test between cut score and mean score of the responses
of Special Education teacher’s perceptions about inclusive education.

One Sample t-Test

Test Value =117

N T Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Diff Mean SD

50 .961 49 .342 -1.440 118.44 10.601

The mean score of 50 respondent was 118.44 One Sample t-test was used by
applying test value = 117 (75% or cut score = 117), the t value was and .961 the
þ value i.e. level of significant (two tailed) is .342 which is greater than 0.05. It
revealed that there is no significant difference between the mean value and test
value. It indicates that perceptions of special education teachers are accurate and
about 75% of total score.

Table 3: Independent sample t-test between the General and Special Education
teacher’s perceptions about Inclusive Education.

Group Statistics
Designation N Mean Std. Deviation
Total Gen Teachers 50 114.02 9.637
Spl.Edu 50 118.44 10.601
Teacher

Independent Samples Test

F Sig. t df Sig. (2- Mean
tailed) Difference
Total Equal .024 .877 2.182 98 .032 4.420
variances
assumed

Since the mean scores of General education teachers is 114.02 and special
education teacher is 118.44 and the þ value i.e. level of significant (two tailed)
is .032 which is less than 0.05. It indicated that there is a significant difference
between general and special education teacher perceptions about inclusive

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education. As the mean score of special education teachers are more than the
general education teachers, therefore the perception of special education
teachers is more positive than general education teachers.

FINDINGS

1. There is a significant difference between the mean value and test value.
It indicates that perceptions of general educators are significantly less than the
test value i.e. 75% of total score.
2. There is a significant difference between the mean value and test value.
It indicates that perceptions of special education teachers are accurate and about
75% of total score.
3. There is a significant difference between general and special education
teacher respondents about the perceptions of inclusive education. Perceptions
of special education teachers are more accurate than the general education
teachers.

CONCLUSION
This research highlights the perceptions of teachers about inclusive education.
After analyzing the results of the study, the researcher had concluded that
perceptions of special educators are accurate. It indicates that perceptions of
general education teachers are very precise. Generally, the findings indicate that
the teachers have a positive attitude toward inclusion of children with
disabilities.

DISCUSSION
All children should have equal access to education, but those who are most
vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion should be given special attention.
It is the goal of inclusive education to remove the barriers that keep people from
participating in the educational process. Rather than focusing just on the
individual kid, an inclusive education system promotes and encourages
flexibility in the system, the curricula and the techniques, so that all children's
learning needs can be satisfied (Burns, 2003). To be effective, it is necessary to
adapt the process to the specifics of the scenario at hand. It is a methodical
strategy meant to ensure that all children have equal access to educational
opportunities. Education for all is a shared goal of this initiative, which is aimed
at reducing and overcoming all exclusion from the human right to education at
least at the primary level (Marzano, 2007). In the words of Ashraf et.al., 2017,
stated in their the study, it was revealed that all teachers supported the inclusion
of students with disabilities in the general education classroom, and there was
no significant difference in the attitudes of stakeholders in both the general and
special education sectors. Special needs students must be accommodated in the
general education classroom. According to the findings of this study, the
majority of teachers are in favour of implementing an inclusive classroom
environment. This problem cannot be handled by the special education system.
The majority of those who took the survey agreed that having an inclusive setup
is critical. It is necessary to provide special equipment for out-of-school children
with impairments in their nearby school. Every district and tehsil have a special
school for children with special needs, however many people live far from these
facilities, making it difficult for them to attend. The only way to help these

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students is to hide them in EFA, which helps all children regardless of their
background.
Clearly, the concept of inclusion is not only complicated, but also multi-
dimensional. Multifaceted and contradictory beliefs and practices form its core.
However, it is important to remember that inclusion is not just an issue of 'legal
rights'. Considerations such as "who" are also included, as well as 'how, when,
and where" students are being educated. Also necessary is the implementation
of vitally important guidelines, tactics, and systems to assist educators and other
members of the workforce in fostering an inclusive climate and way of working.

RECOMMENDATIONS
It's been determined that the following steps should be taken to help mainstream
schools better accommodate students with disabilities:

• As mandated by Article 25A of the Pakistani Constitution, all students,

regardless of their special needs, must be enrolled in ordinary schools.
• General teachers, school administrators, and teachers should receive
more in-service training to enhance their attitudes regarding the inclusion of
kids with disabilities in their classrooms.
• For pupils with impairments, current educational policies and
procedures must be modified. Schools, management, facilities, and support
services; curriculum; pedagogical pattern; admission policies; infrastructural
accessibility; evaluation and assessment methods; etc.
• General Teachers and school heads who enroll at least 10 students with
disabilities should get some kind of recognition, such as a certificate of gratitude
or a financial prize.
• It is imperative that the education sector receives additional funding and
that special attention is paid to creating a child-friendly and inclusive
environment.
• Students with disabilities need better education, and an inclusive
educational strategy is one step in that direction.
• School administrators and teachers need adequate resources and training
in inclusion education.
• Seminars and workshops should be held at the district and provincial
levels in order to raise knowledge of inclusive education and foster a more
positive attitude among school leaders.
• Teachers and principals of Special Schools should be tasked with
relocating pupils with mild or moderate disabilities to nearby institutions.
• For parents of Pwds, a special counselling and guidance programme
should be established.
• The general B.Ed./M.Ed. curriculum should include a course on
inclusive education.
• Schools should stock their libraries with the most up-to-date literature
and works on inclusive education.
It is possible to perform long-term studies on the integration of children with
impairments in conventional schools to address other related issues.

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