Analysis of inclusive education in Harare Northern central district : policy versus implementation

Abstract

This study sought to analyze inclusive education in Harare Northern Central District: Policy versus Implementation. The main research question sought the knowledge gaps between inclusive education policies and their implementation. Sub-questions drawn from the main question were asked to solicit data from school heads. Phenomenological research design was employed while a Purposive Criterion Sampling was used to come up with three school heads and nine teachers. An interview guide and classroom observation guide were the two research instruments used to gather data from the respondents, respectively. Thematic analysis was then used to analyze the data. The major research findings were that lack of expert human resources; infrastructure, ideal teaching and learning materials, financial and time resources lead to ineffective implementation of inclusive education. The study recommends among others, the involvement of educators in Policy formulation on educational matters for ownership of the programme while government should enact a binding policy on inclusivity to compel effective implementation. Furthermore, more schools should be built to reduce walking distance and sensitisation on inclusive education should be enhanced. Additionally, friendly inclusive education infrastructure development should be prioritised through government building grants and overall, a robust monitoring and evaluation should be enhanced to foster effective implementation of inclusivity in schools.