Recognition or Rebuff? Inclusion of Students with Special Education Needs in Ordinary Schools in Pakistan

Abstract

Question of including students with special education needs is being answered in “yes” or “no” manner. Empirical
evidences taken from Pakistan elaborate the response in this research paper. Both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative
(interviews) data facilitates in illustrating the answer. The questionnaires were distributed to 723 teachers posted in urban, rural,
public and private ordinary schools. Finally, a total of 506 questionnaires could be collected back. A total of 37 teachers who
didn’t fill out the questionnaire were also selected for interviews. The analyses disclose that an immensity of teachers of ordinary
schools reject while other enormity accept students with special education needs in their ordinary classes and schools. We
analyzed both forms of data and interpreted teachers’ responses on acceptance and rejection of students with special education
needs. Quantitative analysis shows that significant difference exists on acceptance among teachers due to schools’ type and
their academic and professional qualification while no significant difference exists due to schools’ locality and their gender.