Mugo, John KabuthaKimani, ElishibaMwangi, Sarah Wanjiku2011-11-232011-11-232011-11-23http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1704Department of Special Education,HV 1751.K4M9 70p. 2009Despite the fact that braille learning has been going on in the primary schools for the visually impaired in Kenya, great concern has been raised relating to the falling levels of braille literacy among the learners. This outcry has been indicated in some studies as well as from the sentiments of teachers teaching in the schools for the visually impaired. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influenced braille learning in Thika Primary School for the Blind. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the braille teaching courses undertaken by the teachers who taught braille, determine the teaching experience of the braille teachers, investigate the adequacy of the existing braille materials and equipments as well as to determine the challenges that the braille teachers and the learners faced in teaching/learning braille. The study embraced the descriptive study design. The population of the study constituted 30 teachers and 222 visually impaired learners in Thika Primary School for the Blind. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the institution, thirty blind learners and six braille teachers. The head teacher was also included as a study respondent. This gave a sample size of thirty-seven participants. Data from the head teacher, head of braille and the braille teachers were collected using interview guides while focus group discussion guides were used for collecting data from the blind learners. An observation guide was used by the researcher to gather additional data through attendance of braille learning classes. Qualitative data from the interviews and Focus Group Discussions were organized into common clusters and analyzed through the thematic approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency, percentages and ratios. The findings of this study indicated that majority of the braille teachers had not undertaken braille-teaching courses and the school had inadequate braille learning materials and equipments. At the same time, both teachers and the learners faced some challenges in the process of teaching/learning braille. These included insufficient braille learning materials and minimal braille learning time. Consequently, the recommendations point on the stakeholders in the education system. They embrace the introduction of a braille-learning syllabus, making braille an examinable subject for all learners who are blind, introducing braille in-service courses and deploying braillequalified teachers to teach the blind learners. Areas of further research are also suggested which include investigating the interrelationship between braille literacy and the general academic performance of learners and exploring the factors that influence the acquisition and availability of braille learning materials and equipments in the institutions for the visually impairedenBraille--Study and teaching--Kenya--Cetral provinceThesis