Factors Enabling Transition to University for Students with Blindness in Kenya: a Case of Kenyatta University.
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Date
2014-02-27
Authors
Orangah, Josephine
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Abstract
University students who are categorised as "blind" hardly receive research attention regarding
their educational experiences including milestones that mark their educational success from
.primary, secondary and eventually university. The study investigated factors that have made it
possible for relatively few learners with blindness to succeed in education when majority of
these students do not go beyond the primary school level by exploring what are perceived as
JililliluniYeJ:sity_s1u.illm!0uccess stories in education. The location of the study was Kenyatta
University's Main Campus, in Nairobi. The research employed a qualitative research
approach using a narrative design that enabled the researcher to capture subjects' voices and
represent experiences vividly. Interviews in form of biographies (life stories) were collected
from ten students (five male and five female) with blindness using interview guides. The
independent variable in the study was on the one hand, factors enabling transition of learners
with blindness to university such as a barrier-free environment as well as relevant curriculum
adaptations. On the other hand, transition to university was the dependant variable. The key
objective of the study was to establish factors that have enabled transition of learners with
blindness to university in Kenyatta University. A pilot study was conducted at Kenyatta
University on a similar population; the four students in the pilot study did not take part in the
actual study. The respondents were sampled purposively based on degree of blindness and
level of university education (from PhD downwards). Recording of the interviews was done
by use of a digital recorder. Interviews were transcribed to yield text data which were then
coded and analysed qualitatively using Atlas ti computer software. From the study, a major
finding is that forging of social relationships (friendships) with both sighted and learners with
blindness and other persons in the surrounding was the main enabling factor in the transition
of students with blindness to the university. The findings also show that schooling is a major
emancipator of persons with blindness. A major recommendation is that the Ministry of
Education should subsidize the cost of Braille textbooks to make them affordable. Further,
Ministry of Education should translate supplementary text books used by learners with
blindness into Braille to help reduce reliance on readers. The study findings may form part of
the emancipatory lessons that may be used to inform and encourage other students with
blindness. The findings may also be used in, planning, monitoring and evaluating programmes
which aim at improving access and retention of students with blindness in higher education in
Kenya.
Description
Department of Special Education, 89p. The HV 1617.2 .K3O7 2012
Keywords
Blind --Education --Kenya, Mugo, John Kabutha