EDUCATION SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS IN ZAMBIA A HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND CAPABILITY APPROACH Author: Chileshe Kasoma 19660624T005
[email protected] [email protected] Master of Science in Peace and Development Work Faculty of Social Sciences Master Thesis (4FU41E) Supervisor: Professor Lennart Wohlgemuth Examiner: Manuela Nilsson Date: 12th June, 2014 Chileshe Kasoma Master Thesis Spring semester 2014 Abstract Children with special educational needs (CSEN) are exceptional learners. They are not handicapped, but merely living with a disability of one kind or the other. Handicaps are the disadvantages faced when society does not enable them to fulfil their lives. Idioms such as children are the future generation or the leaders of tomorrow are common and overly used today, hence the need for greater and more nuanced effort in preparing them for future responsibilities. Implementing education services for children with special education needs in Zambia comes with challenges. The predicament of diversity among various learners in Zambia is evident as the results of this study illustrate. The lack of a child database, nature of disability and distance from school, apt learning materials and choice of school placement are some of the issues educationalists and parents have to deal with in making education participation possible for exceptional learners. Informed by the transformative philosophy and the theory of Social Inclusion, this qualitative desk study has been carried out purposefully to examine the factors hindering the implementation of services for CSEN at all levels of their education and/but more specifically, beyond their primary schooling. In the paper, the use of content and thematic analysis has enabled the author to understand the identified views emerging from the study which have then been classified and arranged according to themes.