GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT
The study aimed at assessing inclusive education as a remedy to education of physically disabled secondary school children in Akwa Ibom State. Expost-facto research design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised physically disabled children and school teachers in public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State. Strategic sampling technique was used to select 20 teachers and 100 students (ratio 1:5), which constituted the sample size for the study. The Main Instrument used in this study was a Questionnaire titled “Inclusive Education and The Physically Challenged Child Questionnaire (IEPCCQ)”. Face validation of the instrument was carried out to ensure that the instrument has the accuracy, appropriateness, completeness and the language of the study under consideration. Cronbach Alpha technique was used to determine the level of reliability of the instrument. The reliability coefficient obtained was 0.84 and this was high enough to justify the use of the instrument. The researcher subjected the data generated for this study to appropriate statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics and simple regression. The test for significance was done at 0.05 alpha levels. The study concluded that physical disabilities have been identified among secondary school students in Akwa Ibom State, some of which includes: hearing, mobility learning and language impairment, and multiple disabilities. Based on the above conclusion, the study recommended that the government should put up physical facilities required for accessibility of the physically challenged learners in public primary schools thus improving their participation. Also, the government should plan on training of all teachers in regular public secondary schools on how to handle learners with physical challenges. The training will equip them with the relevant knowledge and skills to handle physically challenged learners.
KEYWORDS: Inclusive Education, Physically Challenged, Academic Performance