The preceding chapters provided an in-depth analysis of the state of inclusive education in Africa. The concept of inclusive education originated in Europe and the USA, but it became a global agenda after the Salamanca Framework for Action in 1994. To date, all countries in Africa have legislation, policies, and programs focused on the education of students with disabilities. Chapter four provided a list of the legislation and policies that guide inclusive education in the different African countries. It is also important to note that some countries do not have any legislation that specifically addresses inclusive education, but they have clauses enshrined in their respective constitutions that seek to protect the educational rights of students with disabilities. Thus, inclusive education may be understood from this perspective.
TopIntroduction
The preceding chapters provided an in-depth analysis of the state of inclusive education in Africa. The concept of inclusive education originated in Europe and the USA, but it became a global agenda after the Salamanca Framework for Action in 1994. To date, all countries in Africa have legislation, policies and programs focused on the education of students with disabilities. Chapter 4 provided a list of the legislation and policies that guide inclusive education in the different African countries. It is also important to note that some countries do not have legislation that specifically addresses inclusive education, but they have clauses enshrined in their respective constitutions that seek to protect the educational rights of students with disabilities. Thus, inclusive education may be understood within this context.
Although it is encouraging that all the 54 countries in Africa have legislation or policy that seek to protect the educational rights of students with disabilities, the goal to make inclusive education a reality is still yet to be realized. There are several challenges that hinder the success of this education model. Chapter 8 provided a detailed discussion of the common factors that appear to hinder the success of inclusive education in Africa. This chapter provides a way forward for the success of inclusive education in Africa. The way forward is discussed in the form of responses to the challenges presented in Chapter 8.
Teacher Recruitment and Retention
It has been previously discussed and established that there is a persistent special education teacher shortage across the African continent (Chitiyo & Muwana, 2018; Donohue & Bornman, 2014). A report by the United Nations (2015) revealed that there is an urgent need of about 17 million teachers to achieve the millennium development goal on universal primary and secondary education by the year 2030. This teacher shortage is a result of the fact that teacher preparation programs are not producing enough special educators to work with students with disabilities. There is a limited number of teacher preparation programs in some African countries (Chitiyo & Muwana, 2018), and the existing ones are overwhelmed. In addition, there has been a mass exodus of teachers from different African countries to Europe and North America in search of greener pastures and this has crippled many African education systems. Research shows that some schools in Africa are severely understaffed to an extent that some students are turned away from school (Mutepfa et al., 2007). Considering this teacher shortage, there is an urgent need for governments across the continent to invest in the establishment of new teacher education programs that train educators who will work with students with disabilities. This requires huge financial investments from the respective African governments. The establishment of additional teacher preparation programs will lead to an increase in the supply of teachers.
Another systemic solution to address the teacher shortage is for respective African governments to make the teaching profession attractive through competitive salaries for teachers. As previously discussed, teacher attrition has reached unprecedent levels in Africa, because a lot of teachers have left their respective countries in search of better living conditions elsewhere. So, there is an urgent need for relevant stakeholders to improve the financial value of being a teacher in Africa. This might assist with teacher retention as competitive compensation has been consistently cited as an effective way to recruit and retain teachers (Mason-Williams et al., 2020).
With regards to recruitment, there is need for teacher education programs and other relevant stakeholders to eliminate the cost of attending college for teacher candidates (South African Council for Educators, 2010). This will remove the barrier that prevents a lot of people who may want to enroll in teacher education programs, thereby helping with recruitment.