Extensiveness of Synthesing Instructional Resources in Aid of Special Needs Students in Secondary Schools in Anambra State

Abstract

Secondary education is a fulcrum of formal education in Nigeria. Cognizant of the fact that various group of learners are seen in the classroom, teachers are expected to integrate instructional resources that could ensure meaningful learning for all category of learners. This study thus investigated the extensiveness of synthesis instructional resources in aid of special needs students in secondary schools. Three research questions were raised for the study. Descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 6145 secondary school teachers in the 266 public secondary schools in Anambra State. The sample for the study comprised 600 secondary school teachers drawn from the population of the study using simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was a self structured questionnaire titled ‘Extensiveness of synthesis Instructional Resources for Special Needs Students (EIIRSNS). The questionnaires were validated by three experts in Faculty of Education in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The questionnaires were trial-tested using 20 secondary school teachers in public secondary schools in Enugu State which was subjected to internal consistency reliability technique using Cronbach Alpha statistics. This yielded a mean reliability coefficient of 0.82.  Mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that instructional resources in all the investigated indicators (assistive technologies, adapted learning materials, physical resources and modifications, specialized instructional strategies, social and emotional support resources and extracurricular and vocational resources) are integrated in a low extent in aid of special needs students in secondary schools. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that there is need for the government to allocate enough resources for the procurement and maintenance of assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, hearing aids, speech-to-text tools) to support special needs students as well as ensuring equitable access to the learning process. Investing in these technologies will empower students with disabilities to fully participate in academic activities and overcome learning barriers caused by physical or cognitive impairments in secondary schools.