Special education was introduced in Tanzania Mainland in 1950 by the Church Missionary Society. Despite its long history in the country, not many policies have clearly stipulated the need for special and inclusive education. This paper succinctly and systematically evaluates various educational reforms and policies in Tanzania, and points out some successes and embedded challenges in the development of special needs and inclusive education in Tanzania. To analyze clearly the current situation of special and inclusive education in the country, the Peter's model and cases of some identified schools for exceptional students are used. The analysis has indicated an evolution from special to integrated and later on to inclusive education, which has led to an apparent increase in the number of schools and subsequent relatively higher enrollment figures for children with special needs. Despite this evolution, Tanzania has a long way to go, when compared to other countries in effectively achieving the provision of education to exceptional individuals. Finally, towards a new era of special and inclusive education in Tanzania, various recommendations are offered.

We compared active student response (ASR) error correction and no-response (NR) error correction while teaching science terms to 5 elementary students. When a student erred on ASR terms, the teacher modeled the definition and the student repeated it. When a student erred on NR terms, the teacher modeled the definition while the student looked at the vocabulary card. ASR error correction was superior on each of the study's seven dependent variables.DESCRIPTORS: active student response, education, error-correction procedures, elementary students, feedbackThis study was conducted in an attempt to replicate and extend the findings of two previous experiments that investigated the effects of active student participation in the correction of errors during academic instruction. Barbetta, Heron, and Heward (1993) found that when students with developmental disabilities repeated the teacher's model of the correct response (active student response, or ASR, error correction) following their errors during sight-word instruction, they performed better during instruction and learned and maintained more words than when they simply attended to the teacher's modeling of the correct response after each error (no-response, or NR, error correction). Similar results were obtained in a replication in which elementary students with learning disabilities were taught geography facts . This study addressed two questions: (a) Would ASR error correction be more effective than NR error correction with academic tasks that are more complex than the relatively simple discrimination tasks taught in the two earlier studies? (b) Would the superiority of ASR error correction found with students with disabilities be reproduced with nondisabled students?METHOD: Five children from three different fourth-grade general education classrooms in an urban, public elementary school participated in the study on recommendation of the school principal. Nick and Leticia, who were enrolled in the school district's program for gifted and talented students, were selected for academic enrichment purposes. Berto, Tom, and Matt were chosen because they were considered to be at risk for academic failure. According to their teachers, Tom and Nick exhibited behavior problems during classroom instruction, and Berto had a severe stutter.Weekly pretests were administered to generate a new set of 12 unknown science terms for each student (eight terms for Matt). If a student provided a definition during the pretest judged by the experimenter to be "close" to the correct definition, that term was not used. Each term was typewritten on one side of an index card (5 in. by 8 in.), and a 4-to 13-word definition was printed on the back of each card (e.g., barometer-an instrument used to measure air pressure in the atmosphere). Each set of vocabulary cards was randomly and equally divided into either the ASR or the NR error-correction condition.One-to-one instructional sessions were conducted 3 or 4 days per week, with the experimenter and student sitting across from one another at...

Asthmatics are at an increased risk of developing exacerbations after being infected by respiratory viruses such as influenza virus, parainfluenza virus, and human and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses (SARS-CoV). Asthma, especially when poorly controlled, is an independent risk factor for developing pneumonia. A subset of asthmatics can have significant defects in their innate, humoral, and cell-mediated immunity arms, which may explain the increased susceptibility to infections. Adequate asthma control is associated with a significant decrease in episodes of exacerbation. Because of their wide availability and potency to promote adequate asthma control, glucocorticoids, especially inhaled ones, are the cornerstone of asthma management. The current COVID-19 pandemic affects millions of people worldwide and possesses mortality several times that of seasonal influenza; therefore, it is necessary to revisit this subject. The pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can potentiate the development of acute asthmatic exacerbation with the potential to worsen the state of chronic airway inflammation. The relationship is evident from several studies that show asthmatics experiencing a more adverse clinical course of SARS-CoV-2 infection than nonasthmatics. Recent studies show that dexamethasone, a potent glucocorticoid, and other inhaled corticosteroids significantly reduce morbidity and mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Hence, while we are waiting for more studies with higher level of evidence that further narrate the association between COVID-19 and asthma, we advise clinicians to try to achieve adequate disease control in asthmatics as it may reduce incidences and severity of exacerbations especially from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

This study analysed sighted students’ prosocial behaviour towards assisting their peers with visual impairment (VI) in inclusive secondary schools in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania. An embedded single case study design was used. Seventy six respondents, consisting of teachers and students with and without VI participated in the study. Data was collected through semi-structured and face to face interviews, focus group discussions, and closed-ended questionnaires. Data was analysed through thematic analysis and presented in tables and quotations of participants’ actual words. Results have indicated differences in prosocial behaviours between sighted day-students and sighted boarding students with the latter being more prosocial as a result of altruistic and egoistic factors; having a positive attitude and due to the influence of religion and school administration . Similarities between sighted students and those with VI were linked to sighted students’ prosocial behaviour. The latter students’ attributions, and misunderstandings among students. determined their prosocial behaviour towards assisting their peers with VI. Awareness raising and sensitisation of members of the community, as well as replicating the study in inclusive and co-education schools for students with VI are recommended in the paper.