The state of support services and effect of class size in mainstreamed schools: implication for inclusive education in Ghana

Abstract

The study was conducted primarily to find the state of support services and the effect of class size in mainstreamed schools and its implication for the inclusive drive. The study became necessary due to the importance of these two factors in the provision of holistic inclusive programmes in Ghana. The samples for the study were ten head teachers and fifty teachers, making a total of 60 respondents. The respondents were selected from ten schools in the Cape Coast Municipality. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the responses got. The result of the study has established that generally, professional support services are not available in inclusive schools in the Cape Coast Municipality. Also that currently, class sizes in mainstreamed classrooms are too large for effective teaching and learning. The respondents there fore recommended an ideal class size of between 20-30 pupils. Based on the result of the study it was recommended that every school or at least every district education office in the country must have support personnel to offer assistance to the exceptional pupils and advice to teachers on how to handle children with specific disabilities. Secondly the Ministry of Education should come out with a policy on the stipulated number of exceptional pupils to be included in each class. Lastly the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service should come out with a policy on class size in inclusive classrooms. The recommended class size should be between 20-30 pupils. IFE PsychologIA Vol. 14(1) 2006: 145-157