Implementation of Inclusive Education at Key Stage 1: Current Practices and Coping Strategies

Abstract

Many schools in Maldives are transitioning towards the adoption of inclusive education, now mandated by both constitutional provisions and policy directives. This study was conducted within the context of Key Stage 1 at a school in Male’, Maldives with the purpose of exploring the implementation of inclusive education, as well as the challenges teachers face in implementing it and ways to overcome these challenges. Purposive sampling was utilised to select six teachers using specific inclusion criteria. Qualitative data was collected through interviews and observations. A semi-structured interview guide was utilised in the interviews. The data from the open-ended questions were analysed for categories, and the interview transcripts were thematically analysed. The findings indicate that current inclusive education strategies include incorporating children with complex learning profiles into mainstream classes alongside their classmates. The challenges teachers face in implementing inclusive education are mainly related to classroom and school factors, such as high student teacher ratio, lack of resources, and insufficient training. Findings also reveal that teachers are not receiving feedback, and there is no adequate monitoring system in the school. Additional resources and training, as well as more teachers, were identified as some of the ways to improve the implementation of inclusive education in Key Stage 1 at the schools in the Maldives.