Barriers to Including Children with Disabilities in Egyptian Schools

Abstract

This study set out to investigate teachers' perceptions of barriers to including children with disabilities in general schools in Egypt. This descriptive, qualitative study drew on a purposive sample of twelve general and special education teachers within two educational districts in Cairo, Egypt. Through in-depth interviews, teachers were asked about their perceptions of the barriers that hinder the implementation of inclusive education in Egypt. Four categories of barriers were identified: structural-organizational, personal, interpersonal and socio-cultural barriers. The findings showed that these barriers are related and interact to affect teachers' beliefs about the possibility of the implementation of inclusion in Egypt. In addition, the study argues that “barriers to inclusion” is a very complicated issue that includes many interrelated contextual factors that should be addressed to implement inclusion effectively. The results indicate that differential change procedures should be followed if we would like to enhance the learning of children with disabilities in inclusive settings.

The impact of teacher preparation on preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education in Qatar

“…Furthermore, teachers still opt for segregated settings in the education of children with disabilities as they preferred the educational settings in the following order: a classroom attached to the regular school, a special education center, a traditional classroom with the provision of special education services, a resource room, a regular classroom. Similar concerns about inclusive education were reported in some other Arabic countries like Egypt (Hassanein et al, 2021), Jordan (Amr et al, 2016), United Arab Emirates (Gaad and Almotairi, 2013) and Lebanon (Khochen and Radford, 2012). Moreover, it is claimed that the majority of teachers in the Arab region tend to demonstrate negative attitudes towards inclusive education (Hadidi and Al Khateeb, 2015).…”

“…Finally, researchers suggest that one of the most significant barriers to the development of inclusion is that most teachers lack the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes to carry out this work (Forlin, 2004;Forlin and Chambers, 2011;Gaad and Almotairi, 2013;Hassanein et al, 2021). Therefore, we must prepare preservice teachers who have the confidence and the skills to provide appropriately differentiated instruction for all learners.…”

“…Furthermore, it is claimed that teachers often feel less prepared to deal with diversity in their classrooms (Forlin 2004;Hassanein et al, 2021). To address these concerns, Killoran et al (2014) pointed out 'teacher-preparation programs must design courses that help prospective teachers appreciate environmental, social and cultural contexts of learning, behavior, and teaching, and be able to enact these understandings in inclusive classrooms serving increasingly diverse students' (p. 428).…”

Expansion of special education and promotion of inclusive education in China: conflict or cooperation? Stakeholders' views

“…Factors can be also structural‐organisational, personal, interpersonal and socio‐cultural ones. Johnson, Hassanein and Adawi (2021) identified four factors hindering the implementation of inclusive education in Egypt. These barriers included.…”

Inclusive Education for Exceptional Children in Egypt and the US: Reforming Egyptian Inclusive Education System in Post-pandemic World

“…252/2017 and proclamation of Law No. 10/2018, only 151,943 EC are included in inclusive public schools and special schools out of 2,725,985 EC (who are ages five to 18 and are not yet enrolled either in inclusive public schools or special schools and who represent 11.56% of total public school enrollment in 2020) (Auther,2020).Despite the promulgating detailed, strict executive regulations of Law No.10/ 2018 to effectuate its provisions (Egyptian Parliament, 2018b), the Egyptian EC remain excluded from the mainstream education, and the current educational policy still does not support their inclusion(Hassanein, 2021). Public and private schools refuse to accept them due to a lack of awareness concerning the law.…”