AVAILABILITY OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

<doi>10.24250/JPE/2/2019/EEA/MIA/FAN</doi>

Abstract

The study aimed at determining the availability of library and information resources for inclusive education of visually impaired primary school pupils in special education centres in South East Nigeria. The population of the study was 129, comprising 125 pupils and 4 librarians in 4 special education centres in the zone. One research question guided the study. Three instruments used for data collection were observation checklist, focus group discussion and interview. Data collected with the checklist were analyzed using frequency counts while responses from pupils and librarians were analyzed qualitatively. The findings revealed that the libraries of the special education centres under study lacked information resources in different subject areas and in alternative formats readable to visually impaired pupils. The result also showed that available resources in alternative formats were old editions of textbooks. Based on the findings, the study concluded that South East Nigeria lacked information resources in alternative formats of Braille, audio and ICT for the inclusive education of visually impaired primary school pupils. It was recommended among others that the government should make information resources available in alternative formats of Braille, audio and digital in all subjects thought in special education centres in South East Nigeria.