Implementing inclusive education in Building Technology and Design in Zimbabwe Secondary Schools: Challenges and the Way Forward

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue I, January 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Implementing inclusive education in Building Technology and Design in Zimbabwe Secondary Schools: Challenges and the Way Forward

Lawrence Hakireni Mukawu
Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe

Abstract: This study sought to bring forward the challenges of implementing inclusive education in Building Technology and Design a learning area in the Technical Education component of the Zimbabwe secondary school curriculum. The study was motivated by the lack of tangible commitment to implement inclusive Technical Education in the country’s high schools. Data was collected from 30 Building Technology and Design subject teachers from the seven districts of Masvingo Province. The descriptive research design guided this study from data collection to analysis. The results of the study show that Building Technology and Design teachers had limited knowledge of what inclusive education entails and lacked the necessary pedagogic skills to accommodate learners with disabilities in their classes. The teachers however appreciated the need for inclusion in Building Technology and Design as the learning area has the potential to empower all learners including those living with disabilities with survival economic skills. The study recommends in-service programs on inclusive education for practicing Technical Education secondary school teachers and the need to train inclusive oriented teachers at colleges and universities. It also recommends the provision of assistive devices for learners with disability to fully participate and benefit from technical learning areas such as Building Technology and Design.

Key words: inclusive education, Technical/vocational education, Building Technology and Design, learners with physical disabilities, inclusion

I. INTRODUCTION

Inclusive education has become a topical issue the world over with agencies such as the United Nations taking centre stage in urging its member states to adopt and implement the concept of inclusion in their education systems. The Education for All Movement and the Millennium Development Goals has played a central role in highlighting the need for universal education for every child (UNICEF, 2014). Zimbabwe has responded to this call of inclusive education by rectifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2008. The country has enacted concrete legislative and policy provisions that indicate commitment to the rights of persons with disabilities (Mapuranga et al, 2015: Mafa, 2012).
The Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013) guarantees equal rights to all people and provides for inclusive education at all levels of the education system. Chapter 4, Part3, Section 83 of the constitution compels the state to “take appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities realize their full mental and physical potential” (page39). These measures include enabling persons with disabilities to be self-reliant, to live with their families, and participate in all social and economic activities in their communities and providing special facilities for their education. Persons living with disabilities should also

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