Bibliographies : Save the Children (UK) : Towards Inclusion: SCF UK's Experience in Integrated Education - Contents

Towards Inclusion: SCF UK's Experience in Integrated Education

Case Study - The Lesotho Programme

Background
Lesotho is a small mountainous kingdom surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Harsh winters and high altitudes make much of the country inaccessible in winter. The population is estimated at 2 million, mostly consisting of Basotho peoples whose language is Sesotho. For over a hundred years, until independence in 1966, Lesotho was a British Protectorate. The provision of education in Lesotho is a joint venture between the Government, churches and the community. In 1992, there were over 370,000 children in primary schools, which is about 75% enrolment (Lesotho Ministry of Education, 1992). The pupil teacher ratio is estimated at 54:1, and about 85% of teachers are qualified. However, a study conducted in 1990 shows a high drop-out rate, nearly 80,000 children are enrolled in grade 1, with less than 30,000 remaining in grade 7 and two thirds of these are girls due to boys spending their time herding animals.

The integrated education programme in Lesotho is a national programme currently being piloted in 10 schools, in 8 of Lesotho's 10 districts. In future, the aim is to expand the programme to include all primary schools. The programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Education with support from international non-government organisations and the United Nations agencies. The programme has the following characteristics:

• The focus is on changing teacher attitudes, knowledge and teaching methodology in order to enable a broader range of children to benefit within a mainstream environment.
• There is no separate cadre of teachers, no separate training courses, certificates or salaries.
• There are no special units, and existing special schools (only twelve) will be used to support integration in the mainstream primary schools.
• Parental education and involvement is seen as central.
• The involvement of disabled peoples' organisations as representations of the consumer group is seen as essential.
• A multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach reflects a holistic approach to the child.
• Children with all types of impairment and with a wide age range are being included; many are already attending primary schools.

Response of the schools involved in the pilot programme has varied, with some responding to the implementation better than others. To examine why this was so, and to identify factors that have contributed to successful integration, two schools, one considered to have successfully implemented the programme and one considered to be less successful were examined in detail. A variety of techniques were used to look at the effectiveness of the school in implementing the programme and included: observation, semi-structured interviews, storytelling, diagrams and profiles to show networking and progress, and focus groups. Teachers, children, parents and key co mmunity people were involved and all the findings were shared and analysed with the teachers, district education officers and district resource teacher.

The 'Successful' Pilot School
The school was located in a very remote, mountainous, rural area, eight hours by road from the capital Maseru. The school was deemed to be positive in its response to the implementation of the programme according to the following criteria:

• wide dissemination of the knowledge and skills teachers had acquired
• good follow-up of individual children
• teachers acting on their own initiative in a variety of ways
• involving other schools and agencies
• promoting parental involvement
• asking for help appropriately
• promoting the independence of parents
• good documentation and record keeping.

Some teachers with over 115 children in their classes had started to respond to the needs of children with hearing, visual and physical impairment. They had begun to assess, plan and implement programmes for children who were struggling in the classroom. They had begun to learn sign and braille, and involve children in helping each other. They spend extra time at lunch, after school and sometimes even on Saturdays to help children who need it. They visit families and take histories, and have even been making referrals and taking children to clinics when parents do not have the resources. In the words of the teachers themselves:

"This programme has lessened the drop-out rate and the repeaters it benefits all children. My job satisfaction has improved, I enjoy teaching more even though I work longer hours. The programme has equipped us with different techniques for our so-called normal pupils"(class teacher).

"The programme benefits everyone. The non-disabled benefit from interaction, they learn a lot from disabled children such as social responsibility. We have been asking the question 'how can we cater to individual needs' for a long time, but it was not until this programme that we understood how to do it to stop this programme would be like asking a repentant sinner to return to their sins! Education is for all" (District Education Officer).

The children themselves were one hundred percent in favour of the inclusive approach;

"Disabled children and non-disabled children should not be separated we would be losing our good friends. We help each other, we make those who can't see feel what they don't know, we push those in their wheelchairs if they can't walk. We (disabled children) lend them things they have forgotten, we help them in subjects they don't know" (disabled and non-disabled children's focus group).

The main lessons that contributed to the success of the school emerging from the research can be summarised as follows:

• Obstacles such as large teacher/pupil ratio, lack of resources are not an absolute barrier to integration.
• Participation has been integral from the start; local chiefs, parents, other schools churches, education officers and resource teachers, health professionals have all been involved.
• There was strong leadership and support from head teachers and district education staff.
• Parents have been visited in their homes, a parents' association has been established, parents are given work to help their children, and are welcome in the school.
• Teachers were already aware of a problem (children dropping out and repeating, disabled children in school but not benefiting) so the programme has helped them solve a problem they had already identified.
• There is a strong sense of being a part of a community rather than just being an individual. Therefore promoting a sense of responsibility and caring in other children is very highly valued, arguably over and above personal development.
• The teachers experience the programme as a sort of religious conversion; they have 'seen the light' and now know that disabled children have rights and can learn, so there is no going back.
• Being in a poor, remote area they are used to overcoming very severe obstacles, and dealing with hardship as a daily reality.

The 'Unsuccessful' Pilot School
The second school was chosen because it was apparently 'negative' towards the programme. This was confusing because the school was relatively near to the capital, Maseru (and therefore more resources), and already had a small hostel facility for physically disabled children. Some of the negative responses included: refusing the special education team access to classrooms, not attending or dropping out of training courses, overtly stating their lack of belief in the programme and not keeping up records.

Contributing factors to the lack of success at this school can be summarised as follows:

• The school had no support from the District Education Officer, resource teacher or church, and lacked positive leadership.
• The hostel for disabled children had been founded by a missionary priest, and so had been imposed on the teachers, who had had no training or preparation.
• The school had a very good academic reputation, and felt that this would be threatened by spending time on the 'slow learners'.
• There was a very strong status quo; a core group of teachers had been at the school between twenty and thirty years. New teachers who wanted to introduce new ideas were outnumbered.
• Because they felt negative to begin with, they dropped out of workshops, then therefore lacked the skills, and therefore became more demoralised and more negative.
• They had initially tried to reach out to other schools, the church, parents, and district education staff, but had received nothing in return.
• Because the hostel was not their responsibility, and they knew of special schools in Maseru, they felt that other people should be responsible for disabled children.
• All the children were very positive about integration, and appeared to be happy and involved in the school; the teachers were not acknowledging their considerable existing level of success.

Conclusion
From examination of the two schools, three issues emerge from the research and the programme as a whole, which deserve further investigation and are of particular relevance across cultures in relation to promoting sustainable change. These are participation, resources, and roles and responsibilities.

• Participation: inclusion is seen as the business of the whole community, not just the education sector. Although the policy was 'imposed' from above, implementation succeeded where everyone was involved every step of the way. At central level this included consumer representatives, disabled people and parents, who have a vested interest in sustainability.
• Resources: the programme has worked largely with existing levels of resources. The research strongly indicates that lack of resources is not an absolute obstacle and is relative; these teachers considered that a class size of fifty to fifty-five children would be ideal, but were still managing to organise lessons to respond to diversity with over a hundred children.
• Roles and Responsibilities: the government, disabled people, parents, teachers, teacher trainers, district education resource teachers all have their part to play in this programme. From the start, the responsibility for the education of 'all children' has been firmly with the class teachers in the context of the whole school and community. The decision not to set up special units with special teachers has been a crucial factor in promoting that responsibility, and therefore the long-term sustainability.
  

Bibliographies : Save the Children (UK) : Towards Inclusion: SCF UK's Experience in Integrated Education - Contents

17/10/1997