Piloting inclusive education in Ghana: parental perceptions, expectations and involvement

Ghana has embarked on piloting inclusive education in 35 schools since 2003. Since then, no study has been done on parental perceptions, expectations and involvement in inclusive education. Parents’ perceptions, expectations and involvement can affect inclusion and the education of children. It was therefore imperative to investigate exactly parents’ perceptions, expectations and involvement in inclusive education in Ghana. The study was a descriptive survey and was guided by three research questions. The sample comprised 560 parents and 35 headteachers, sampled from the 35 pilot inclusive schools.
The instruments for data collection were questionnaires and an interview schedule. The questionnaire had four sections which elicited information on demographic data, parental perceptions, expectations and involvement in inclusive education. All participants completed the questionnaire and 20 parents were randomly sampled and interviewed. The interview schedule elicited information on demographic data, parental expectations and involvement in the education of their child. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVAs, chi-squares and correlation were used to analyse the questionnaire data. The interview data were analysed thematically.
The findings showed parents were knowledgeable about inclusive education and perceived it to be beneficial. The majority of the parents reported that inclusive education was meeting their expectations for their children. Yet 53.8% of them felt children with SEN should not be educated in inclusive schools.
Parents were found to be involved in inclusive education. They, however, desired to be more involved in volunteering, decision-making, individualised educational plan development and the discipline of their children. The study established a relationship between parents’ current involvement, the knowledge parents have of inclusive education and the benefits parents perceived of inclusive education. Among the recommendations was a need for a policy on parental involvement to guide practice. Results of the study will help inform the Ministry of Education Science and Sports in planning, as they will know how parents perceived inclusive education and how they were involved or expect to be involved.