Special Needs Education in Post-Independence Kenya

Abstract

The provision of education in any system needs to be guided by a clear policy that defines the nature and specifies the quantity and quality control mechanisms of such a system. Whereas there have been commendable developments in the provision of Special Needs Education (SNE) in Kenya since independence, such developments have been shown to be insufficient in promoting the general welfare of persons living with disabilities. It is in this regard that this article sought to analyze the various policy provisions that have governed education in Kenya and examine how such policies have affected SNE from the time of Kenya’s independence to the present. The study relied on documentary analysis of the documents that are related to education in general and SNE in particular in Kenya. The study presents different policy documents in Kenya’s post-colonial period with an analysis of how such policies have affected SNE. The Post-independence policy documents presented include the Ngala Mwenda Committee Report of 1964; the Ominde Commission Report of 1964; the Sessional Paper No. 5 of 1968; the Gachathi Commission Report of 1976; the Kamunge Report of 1988 and the Koech Report of 1999. Others include the Kochung Report of 2003; the Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005; the SNE Policy Framework of 2009, the 2010 Constitution of Kenya, the Odhiambo Taskforce Report of 2012 and the Education Act of 2013. The writers established that whereas provisions governing SNE started to be incorporated in educational policy documents immediately after independence, such polices were not elaborate enough to sufficiently guide the provision of quality SNE . The study concludes that whereas the government of Kenya has currently embraced inclusive education through its policies whereby learners with disabilities and special needs are provided with appropriate education within the regular schools, most of the regular schools are not sufficiently equipped to deal with learners with special needs. The study, therefore, recommends that the existing SNE policy be enhanced or its implementation be interrogated so as to provide an appropriate environment for inclusive education.