Grade 12 national examination assessment practices for learners with visual impairments in selected schools in Mwense and Lusaka districts, Zambia

Abstract

The study aimed at examining the practices at Grade 12 level with respect to learners with visual impairments. The sample was drawn from Mwense and Lusaka districts of Zambia. The study was guided by the following objective: to establish the current practices of the Grade 12 national examination assessment for learners with visual impairments in selected schools of Mwense and Lusaka districts, Zambia. The study was qualitative, and a case study design was used. The study comprised 22 respondents consisting of four pupils, six school leavers, and six school specialist teachers, two school headmasters, two Education Standard Office (ESO) in charge of special education, and two officials from the Examination Council of Zambia (ECZ). Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data based on the themes that emerged in the study. The study findings revealed that learners who were totally blind wrote their examinations using braille format, and enlarged print was used for those learners who were partially sighted. The findings of study also showed that the examination questions were modified into a descriptive form, and by doing so, learners were able to access the examinations. The study further revealed that learners were given extra time during the examinations, although this was not adequate. It was equally revealed that there were no special provisions that were considered when marking examination scripts for the learners with visual impairments, meaning their scripts were marked just like other scripts for learners without sight challenges. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the Examination Council of Zambia should come up with a marking centre where the scripts for the learners with visual impairments could be marked to solve the problem of missing results, among others.