ABU DHABI // More than half of teachers in Indian and Pakistani schools doubt that pupils with learning disabilities should be placed in mainstream classes, a study says.
A survey of 200 teachers from 13 private schools in Abu Dhabi and Dubai found that 52 per cent expressed “an unfavourable perception towards integration”.
“They don’t have a clear idea about it or they feel like, ‘if I have a learning-disabled student in my class that will distract other students’,” said Dr Smitha Dev, assistant professor of psychology at Abu Dhabi University and co-author of the study.
“Apart from that these teachers are not well equip-ped to handle the students.
“They are not receiving any proper help from the schools. If you’re asking them to prepare an individualised educational programme, they don’t know about it.”
Dr Dev said part of the problem stemmed from the teachers’ lack of awareness about pupils with learning disorders, such as dyslexia.
The teachers’ gender and age were also factors, the study said.
Women were “more enthusiastic and passionate” about working with children with learning disabilities than men, and teachers older than 40 had a “more positive perception”, it said.
Large class sizes and low pay were also factors in the poor quality of education given to pupils with learning disabilities, Dr Dev said.
“Their salaries are around Dh2,000 to Dh3,000. Basically they don’t have the motivation to do it,” she said.
Maryam Ahmed, who has worked in Indian curriculum schools in the UAE for nearly 25 years as a teacher and administrator, said she was not surprised by the findings, adding that the situation was improving thanks to the work of education authorities.
“I can say that the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) plays a big role in this,” Ms Ahmed said of the Dubai regulator. “After the inspection by the KHDA, each school started to be aware of this.”
The UAE School Inspection Framework adopted this year, which standardises public and private school inspections, emphasises integration.
“Provision made by schools for students with special educational needs is now integrated into this framework,” said the Ministry of Education.
“Schools and inspectors will be able to evaluate the quality of provision for these students in the process of considering selected performance standards and indicators.”
Rema Menon, director of the education consultancy Counselling Point, said she applauded the education authorities for developing inclusion policies.
But Ms Menon said: “When we say that, we should also equip our teachers and the community to build the skills to deal with it.
“It’s not enough to include. What are the next steps? How do we carry this forward? How do we build the strengths of our teachers and how do we give them the technical know-how to deal with this issue?”
Dr Dev’s study, Teacher’s Perception towards Integration of Learning Disabled Students into Regular Class Room – A study in Dubai and Abu Dhabi Schools, was recently published in the online journal Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences.
rpennington@thenational.ae
