Analysis of Availability and Adequacy of Support Services for Students with Visual Impairments in Tanzania Institutions of Higher Learning

Nsimbila, Alfred Michael (2014) Analysis of Availability and Adequacy of Support Services for Students with Visual Impairments in Tanzania Institutions of Higher Learning. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

Preview

PDF Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

In recent years, shortage of human and technical resources for learners with disabilities has been a common cry at all levels of educational institutions in Tanzania. The purpose of this study was to analyze the availability and adequacy of support services to students with visual impairment in Tanzania higher learning institutions. Anti-positivist paradigm that supports neutrality of approaches choice between qualitative and quantitative was adapted, warranting the use of survey design procedures to collect data from four Universities accommodating students with visual impairments. The random and purposeful sampling strategies were used for this study. The sample constituted 37 participants where by 4 administrative staff, 30 students were interviewed. The Focused Group Discussion method was used involving a total of 15 students. A checklist method was used to collect data from 3 technical staff. The findings revealed the extensive scarcity of both human and technical resources in the sampled institutions and inadequate resources were found unevenly distributed across the sampled institutions. The levels of utilization of human and technical resources across the said institutions were found at 50% and 36.4% respectively. Likewise, most of the volunteer human resource respondents were found with minimum education qualifications of advanced level certificate while majority of the rest had a diploma or degree. It was revealed that the service providers were less equipped with appropriate skills required to handle students with visual impairment in different academic settings. The common technical resources used by the sampled students were of low quality and only a few were of high quality. The study suggested too that the support services across the sampled institutions are relatively of low quality. Improvement of existing policies and further studies were recommended.

Actions (login required)

View Item