Including Children with Mild Intellectual Disabilities in Regular Schools of Punjab under the Single National Curriculum: From the Lens of Regular School Teachers

Abstract

Pakistan is still far behind in adopting the policies of the United Nations for implementing the successful Inclusion of children with special needs in regular schools. The recent initiative of the PTI government to apply a Single National Curriculum (SNC) across the country regardless of any age, gender, or class discrimination. This initiative helps to fill the gap of an inclusive environment in the country. This study aimed to assess the perceptions, attitudes, and challenges of regular school teachers for including mild IDD children in regular schools in Punjab, Pakistan with the help of a survey. A sample of 300 teachers from regular schools in the Punjab Province was selected to assess their perceptions regarding the Inclusion of mild IDD children under SNC. The .811 value of Cronbach's Alpha indicated a high level of internal consistency in the questionnaire. The Independent samples t-test and Chi-square tests were applied to find the association between gender, age, qualification, teaching experience, and type of school setting. Findings and results showed that the majority of the teachers were in favor of implementing SNC in regular schools for including mild IDD children.