Parents and Students’ Satisfaction on Existing Instructional Practices and Educational Provisions for Children with Vision Impairment in Government Special Education Institutions

Abstract

Purpose: This study is an effort to depict the level of satisfaction in children with vision impairment and their parents about instructional practices and educational provisions available at primary level in Government Special Education Institutions of Punjab, Pakistan.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: It was a descriptive mixed method research. Multistage sampling technique was applied to collect the data from randomly selected 31 parents and 53 students with vision impairment studying in fifth grade. Three institutions were randomly selected from each zone to conduct the structured interviews from parents while four special education institutions were chosen randomly from each zone to fill the questionnaires by all available CWVI studying at primary level.
 Findings: The study reported that the majority of parents are belonging to low socio economic status and they have minimum level of education and awareness and as do CWVI. Teachers usually have good attitude with parents. School management gave stipend, uniform and shoes in time. In addition CWVI praised the instructional practices of their teachers in reading, writing, mathematics, assigning & checking homework, regular class tests and provision of result cards to their parents. But they had reservations due to lack of training in orientation and mobility, absence of training in vocational skills and lack of in time availability of Braille books
 Implications/Originality/Value: Study recommended that various programs and seminars should be arranged for parents to get better understanding of the standards of instructional practices and educational provisions. Braille books and Braille equipments should be provided to CWVI. Sufficient training about orientation and mobility, vocational subjects and use of assistive devices/IT should be provided to students in all special education institutions.