ABSTRACT

To satisfy the global commitment of promoting ‘Education for All’, Ghana, a sub-Saharan African country developed an inclusive education policy to define the government’s strategic path for the education of children and youth with special education needs. Years after making this commitment, research evidence has revealed significant challenges confronting the successful implementation of the inclusive education program. However, little has been reported on ways to address setbacks hindering the effective implementation of the inclusive education programme. Consequently, this study reports the views of practising social workers and regional level policymakers on how to address the setbacks facing the implementation of the policy. Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with eleven professional social workers, two policymakers in the Ashanti region in Ghana. Data from the participants’ narratives were thematically analysed with the aid of NVivo 12 Pro software. The participants recommended; reconceptualising disability, financial backing, a guideline on teacher recruitment and fostering inter-agency collaboration, as the means to achieve the policy goals. The findings suggest the need to resource responsible agencies and refocus the policy by facilitating linkage between education and social welfare in the practice of inclusive education.

摘要

履行促进“全民教育”的全球承诺'，撒哈拉以南非洲国家加纳制定了一项包容性教育政策，以确定政府对有特殊教育需求的儿童和青年的教育战略路径。在做出这一承诺多年后，研究证据揭示了成功实施全纳教育计划面临的重大挑战。然而，关于如何解决阻碍有效实施全纳教育计划的挫折的报道很少。因此，本研究报告了执业社会工作者和区域层面的政策制定者对如何解决政策实施过程中遇到的挫折的看法。对加纳阿散蒂地区的 11 名专业社会工作者、两名政策制定者进行了定性的半结构化深度访谈。在 NVivo 12 Pro 软件的帮助下，对参与者叙述的数据进行了主题分析。参与者推荐；重新定义残疾、财政支持、教师招聘指南和促进机构间合作，作为实现政策目标的手段。调查结果表明，有必要通过在全纳教育实践中促进教育与社会福利之间的联系，为负责任的机构提供资源并重新调整政策重点。