Mobility challenges and experiences for students with disabilities in Tanzania universities: dealing with a social inclusion nightmare in property management

Abstract

PurposeDespite the presence of people with disabilities in higher learning institutions, facilities provided for both accommodation and classrooms prove to be ineffective in fulfilling their expectations. However, the existing measures have tended to be rigid and unable to incorporate the ever evolving user experiences from constantly enrolling students in public campus buildings. The paper is premised on the notion of social inclusivity of the built environment in public universities through user experiences, measured through a qualitative lens.Design/methodology/approachThe study was qualitative and deployed a case study strategy. Respondents were purposively identified and subjected to in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focused group discussions. The full realisation of the sample frames was determined by data saturation. Data from responses was thereafter sorted, coded and categorised through a systematic thematic analysis. Some responses reactions were reported verbatim. The anonymity of the respondents was observed though through the use of pseudonyms.FindingsThis paper has indicated respondents' experiences regarding social inclusivity of the institutional built environment and thematically categorised them in six areas: complaints mechanism and feedback, pre- and post-enrolment experiences, namely; complaints mechanism and feedback, pre- and post-enrolment experiences and social support as a property management policy. Others include, representation in university decision-making organs, perceptions regarding disability and its needs and distribution of facilities and site works. It recommends that property management practices should be re-oriented to ensure the sustainability of learning facilities for the disabled, taking into consideration the ever-evolving needs and preferences of PWD user students with disabilities.Originality/valueLinking the social and human rights models to actual experiences of property occupiers is unique. The author believes that it will, in addition to the existing models and strategies, improve on a better achievement of inclusivity of building use used by all categories of members of the society.

AHRC Efforts Action to Reduce Racial Discrimination Cases Occur in Australia

“…Of the total questions received by AHRC in 2016-2017. (Mubiru, 2022) Based on the data in table 5, the majority of questions received by AHRC were through the Commission's National Information Hotline, namely 53%. While the main issues raised by the questioners in 2016-2017 included disability discrimination of 39%, general employment issues including harassment and bullying of 8%, sexual discrimination or the Sex Discrimination Act of 24%, racial discrimination including racial hatred of 21 % and issues related to human rights including immigration and immigration detention as much as 8%.…”

Nature of student housing in Ghana: drivers of physical health condition effects on students living with disability (SWD) in Purpose-Built university housing

“…However, building designs that support persons with disability has always been an ongoing debate within the health sector (Tucker et al, 2022;Yuan et al, 2022a, b;Lai et al, 2022). According to Attakora-Amaniampong et al (2022) and Mubiru (2022), the lack of all-inclusiveness in student housing affects the health of students with disability and, to a more significant extent, influences their academic performance (Amoah et al, 2023). All-inclusiveness can be described as physically accessible and physical health condition support systems in buildings (Attakora-Amaniampong et al, 2022).…”

“…All-inclusiveness can be described as physically accessible and physical health condition support systems in buildings (Attakora-Amaniampong et al, 2022). Studies on physical accessibility and satisfaction in tertiary student accommodation among SWD have been limited across the global divide (Ahmad et al, 2022(Ahmad et al, , 2022Mubiru, 2022). The physical health condition systems that support the quality of life and learning among SWD in university student housing form a huge gap in research.…”