Effect of Community Based Sensitization Campaign on Inclusive Education Policy for the Visually Impaired in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State

Abstract

Conventionally, the blind children need braille literacy. This is why there are special education centres across the country to cater for them. However, the 21st century visually impaired persons need more than braille literacy. This is why the Federal Ministry of Education launched Inclusive Education Policy for the visually impaired in 2015. This study investigated the effect of sensitization campaign on both the experimental and control groups prior to and after sensitization campaign.Quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the study. Stratified random sampling method was used to select schools in the categorized areas of Egi, Ndoni, Egbema and Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. The sample of the study comprised eight hundred and sixty-six parents and two hundred and forty teachers purposively selected. The Community Sensitization Campaign on Inclusive Education Policy for the Visually Impaired Questionnaire (CSCIEPVIQ) was used to collect data from the 1126 participants. Collected data were analyzed with IBM SPSS. The research question raised was answered using descriptive statistics while the formulated hypothesis was tested at 0.05 alpha level with a multivariate test statistic Analysis of Covariance - ANCOVA. Findings revealed that parents and teachers who were exposed to the sensitization campaign on inclusive education policy for visually impaired gained much knowledge than those who were not exposed. The effect size of the intervention was found to be very high. It was recommended that there should be sensitization campaign for all visually impaired persons in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area. The parents and family members of the visually impaired should be specially acquainted with the prevailing policy too to encourage positive feelings in the family in particular and community at large.

Keywords: Parents, Teachers, sensitization campaign, inclusive education policy, treatment group, control group, visual impairment

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-30-13

Publication date:October 31^st 2022