CHAPTER ONE: THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Inclusive Education was not considered for many years in Zimbabwe. Regular early childhood

development centres used to cater for pupils who were regarded as ‘’normal’’ as the term was

used then. It was however only after the newly elected government of Zimbabwe took over, that

emphasis to education as a basic human right was made. Education was made accessible to all

learners regardless of sex, race, disability, culture and colour (Salamanca, Report 1990). At

independence there were many schools which enrolled children of various special needs. These

children were institutionalized. Upon the attainment of independence, Zimbabwe became a

signatory to charters such as the Salamanca statement. These charters redirected the education of

special needs children from institutionalization to inclusive education. This meant bringing

children with special needs into the regular school. Inclusive Education was then seen as a way

of removing the discriminatory practices and accommodating all learners, irrespective of their

special needs.

Inclusive Education caters for all children including those with variety of disabilities. It has been

the interest of the researcher to find out how caregivers perceive the implementation of Inclusive

Education in Private Early Childhood Development Centres (PECD) in Gweru urban. The

chapter focuses on background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study

amongst other areas.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In 1990 the Zimbabwean Government introduced the education for all policy popularly known as

EFA. This policy gave birth to the introduction of Inclusive Education in Zimbabwe, where the
education of children was to be done for all regardless of one’s ability, disability or health status.

This should be done as an integral part of the education system. The position declared by the

Jomtiem Report (1990) was emphasized by the Salamanca Conference Report of [Link]

Salamanca Report 1990 state that regular schools should accommodate all children regardless of

their physical, social, emotional and linguistic or any other conditions of disability. It then meant

that children who lived with disability and those who suffer from conditions like HIV were to be

taught at par with other children who were able bodied and healthy.

This policy gave birth to special classes and resource units in schools which meant that for

example children with mental disabilities had the right to education and opportunities. Those

who were just physically handicapped had access into class with everyone else.

The new policy meant that teachers had to adapt their teaching methods so as to suit every ability

in the classroom. According to Mhangami (2009) under the inclusive education stance, children

with special education needs are integrated into the mainstream education system and in regular

classrooms. Different perceptions were aired about this policy from a wide range of stakeholders

as to the impact of this new policy.

It is against this background that the researcher intends to investigate through this research

the perceptions of the early childhood development centres as to how they perceive this policy

and its implementation into private early childhood development centres.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Researchers around the world have reviewed tat institutional child-education is not the best for

children with special education needs. This type of education has been associated with negative
effects observed include stigma and discrimination. Hence the new thinking around the globe

advocates for inclusive education in regular ECD centres and schools.

Given the Zimbabwean context where the ECD centres were constructed to cater for the able

bodied children, how feasible would the concept of inclusivity be, as policy in ECD centres. The

study therefore, sought to find out the perceptions of ECD private centres’ caregivers on

inclusive policy implementation in their centres.

The research was guided by the following questions in the investigation.

1.2.1 MAJOR RESEARCH QUESTION

What are the perceptions of private early childhood development centres on Inclusive

policy implementation in Gweru urban?

1.2.2 SUB–RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Are ECD caregivers knowledgeable of the inclusive education policy?

2. Are ECD private centres in Gweru enrolling pupils with special needs?

3. Are ECD caregivers in Gweru urban implementing the inclusive education policy at

their centres?

4. How do ECD caregivers in Gweru urban perceive inclusive education policy

implementation?

5. What is the extent of the implementation of inclusive education policy in private

centres?

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the research were as follows

inclusive education policy

2. To investigate whether early childhood development caregivers are implementing the

inclusive education at their centres.

3. To establish whether the ECD private centres in Gweru are enrolling pupils with

special needs.

4. To determine perceptions of caregivers on inclusive education policy’s

implementation in Gweru urban private ECD centres.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research will help in highlighting the importance of inclusive education in order to avoid

discrimination and stigmatization of children with disabilities by peers and society. It provides

Zimbabwean literature on inclusive education policy implementation in private ECD centres. It

will equip the researcher with research skills. It will also foster a deep understanding of the

phenomenon on the researcher.

1.5 DELIMITATION

The research will be limited to zones A and B in Gweru urban private centres because of

financial limitations as the researcher needs to travel around the area during the research. The

researcher would delimit the research to private early childhood development centres in zone A

and B which covers a bigger fraction of private early childhood development centres in Gweru

urban and are the key players in the inclusive policy implementation. So only the private ECD

centres in Zone A and B became the geographical boundaries to which the study was confined.
1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The researcher came across challenges which were beyond her control. These limited progress.

They included:

Due to other duties that the researcher has time was a limiting factor for the research to be done.

Financial constraints also limited the researcher’s progress since she has a lot of other

responsibilities to take care of. Most private ECD centres are of mainly religious denominations,

religion and cultural difference also limited the researcher’s progress since authority was to be

sought before the researcher could get on site. Most of these centres are not free to entertain

members of different religion.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

To understand the key concept of this study, it is necessary to clarify them to avoid

misinterpretation. Terms such as private early childhood development centres, public ECD

centres, implementation, perceptions, inclusion and inclusive education are defined below.

Private ECD centres: are institutions that are privately run, for example at church institutions.

Public ECD centres: are institutions which are run by the government. These are the ECD A

and B classes found in the primary schools.

Implementation: is a specified set of activities designed to put into practice on activity or

programme of known dimension (Unc, 2015).According to this definition this means that the

caregivers in private ECD centres have their own decision set of activities in implementing

inclusive education.
Perception: is the ability to see, hear or become aware of the inclusive policy through sense or

is the way in which inclusive education is regarded, understood or interpreted.

Policy: is a set of coherent decision with a common long term purpose and usually supported by

special legislation.

Carreiro King (2003) says that inclusive education means that all children in a school regardless

of their strengths, weakness or abilities in any area become part of the school community. They

are included in the feeling of belonging among other students, teachers and support staff.

Inclusive education is the practice of including everyone irrespective of talent disability, socio-

economic background, or cultural origin in supportive mainstream schools and classroom where

all children needs are met (Gross, 2002).

Inclusion is a principle that refers to the right of all learners to feel welcome in a supportive

educational context (Hall, 2002).According to Hallahan and Kauffman(1994;53) say that

“inclusion is the notion students with disabilities should be educated in their home or school and

in regular classes’’. From the two above definitions inclusion refers to the provision of

educational services to children with special educational needs within the regular private ECD

centres system.

1.8 SUMMARY

In this chapter, as the orientation chapter the researcher introduced the study focusing on the

research problem and the aim of the study. Also it clarifies the relevant concepts and gives a

detailed background of the project. The next chapter focuses on review of related literature.