Abstract:
The issue of where to teach children with special educational needs (SEN) and
disabilities has been a great concern as countries respond to the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Salamanca Statement
on inclusion of 1994. In this study, the responses of 500 trained and untrained
mainstream primary school teachers selected from three of the ten regions of Ghana
were analysed to investigate their attitudes to including children with SEN and
disabilities in mainstream schools in Ghana. These attitudes were examined
alongside teachers’ characteristics such as gender, age, length and level of teaching
experience, and knowledge of SEN, and also the type, nature and degree of children’s
SEN. The results showed that teachers in Ghana were positive towards the inclusion
of children with SEN and disabilities with a few reservations which are elaborated.
On the basis of the findings, conclusions were drawn that the inclusion agenda should
be subject to national and local interpretation, aimed at ensuring that policies and
regulations on SEN are fashioned to meet local situations and standards
