A phenomenological study of access to education for learners living with disability in Kenya: a study of policy implementation and strategies in Siaya and Kisumu counties

Abstract

Access to education is a basic human right that every government seeks to guarantee its people. Policymakers in the education sector continue to focus on formulating and implementing policies that ensure that all children have equal chances of accessing quality education regardless of their social, economic, or physical status. However, learners living with a disability are still facing numerous challenges in their quest for education. Well-thought-out policy implementation strategies can assist in ensuring that learners living with a disability access quality education like other children without any challenges. The study sought to determine the factors hindering access to education by learners living with a disability in a case study of Siaya and Kisumu counties in Kenya. The study made reference to theories of policy implementation, namely top-down, bottom-up, and the hybrid approaches. The study adopted a qualitative phenomenological approach in order to understand the individual lived experiences of learners living with a disability in terms of policy implementation. The objectives of the study were: to explore the policy context of students living with a disability; to analyze the factors influencing policy implementation for access to education by students living with a disability; and to recommend strategies for improving access to education for learners living with a disability. Data were collected in 3 schools within 2 countries in Kenya. Three principals, 3 parents, 2 education officers, 9 learners living with a disability, and 18 teachers in 3 focus groups were selected using convenience and purposive sampling techniques. The unit of analysis for this research was the individual. Content review of daily recordings, semi-structured interviews, and focus group interviews were used for the data collection. For the analysis, the study adopted thematic analysis where six stages were followed: (a) becoming familiar with the data obtained; (b) generating initial codes; (c) identifying emerging themes; (d) reviewing the themes; (e) defining and naming the themes; and (f) producing the report.

The findings revealed that the main factors hindering access to quality education by learners living with a disability included lack of decision-making ability by stakeholders at the grassroots level (teachers, school heads, and county education officers), lack of awareness of the existing support structures for learners living with a disability, lack of parental and peer support, negative cultural beliefs and perceptions about people living with disability, lack of sufficient special facilities and infrastructure in schools, and an unfavorable curriculum. The study recommends the following: policymakers should consider a bottom-up approach or a hybrid approach to decisions involving learners living with a disability, development and implementation of policy to enable research on learners living with disabilities, strict implementation of policies and laws on the discrimination of persons living with disabilities, the government to ensure that schools have sufficient special facilities and supportive infrastructure for learners living with disability, hiring of more trained teachers, review and customization of the curriculum to meet the needs of different types of learners living with a disability, and increasing awareness of disabilities and the existing support systems for leaners living with a disability.