Including Students With Visual Impairments in Local Schools of Ethiopia: Availability of Resources and Support Services

Abstract

Introduction: This study assessed the availability of resources and school supports for students with visual impairments who were mainstreamed in local primary and secondary schools of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A qualitative research approach was used where a semi-structured interview was the tool for gathering primary data from students with visual impairments and special needs education specialists at inclusive education resource centers at the sampled schools. A total of 13 students (5 male, 8 female) with visual impairments were drawn from 2 primary and 4 secondary schools. To ensure the credibility of the study findings, a triangulation of sources and member checks were used. Results: Establishment of inclusive education resource centers and deployment of special needs education specialists were considered promising practices in improving the quality of inclusive education at local schools. Some efforts, like pairing students with visual impairments with sighted peers and administering examinations by subject teachers, need to be strengthened at schools. Multiple challenges were also identified including shortage of resources like textbooks and reference books in braille, braille writing materials, and audio materials. Students with visual impairments encountered challenges during examinations and assignments. The level of support provided by inclusive education resource centers was also found to be below expectations. Discussion: The findings of the current study support previous research in the area, in which students with visual impairments were found to face challenges in accessing resources and appropriate supports. In contrast to earlier findings, however, the current study documented relatively better support for students with visual impairment from sighted peers. Implications for Practice: Policymakers need to closely follow up and check the implementation of various policies and working documents prepared to promote quality inclusive education. Educators and families of students with visual impairments can also use these findings to advocate for improved services.

Keywords

Ethiopia visual impairment school support resources challenges inclusive education resource centers

Inclusive education is characterized by welcoming all children irrespective of their differences with regard to characteristics like disability, ability, race, gender, culture, language, and socioeconomic status (Peterson & Hittie, 2010). The goal of inclusive education, according to Janney and Snell (2006), is to enable students with disabilities to be fully participating members of their schools and classroom groups and also to enable these students to progress with regard to their academic achievement and functional competence. Lamichhane (2017) stressed that, in some instances, inclusive education is associated with simply placing students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers together in the same classroom, which is against the basic principles of inclusive education. Beyond physical inclusion, there is a need for a concerted effort of the school community and other stakeholders, including parents, to ensure that such children are included in local schools.

A large and growing body of literature has investigated challenges pertaining to the inclusion of children with disabilities in local schools. These studies identified a capability gap of teachers to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities and negative attitudes of general education teachers toward including such children in their classrooms (Lamichhane, 2017), inaccessible physical environments (Voltz et al., 2001), poor level of support from trained specialists (Wapling, 2016), and lack of appropriate resources and supports (Howgego et al., 2014).

Scholars have underscored the need for providing disability-specific resources and supports to children with disabilities who are enrolled in mainstream schools. The 1994 Salamanca Framework for Action suggests that schools need to respond to the diverse needs of their students through providing additional supports for effective education (UNESCO, 1994). Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also states that “persons with disabilities receive the support required, within the general education system, to facilitate their effective education” (United Nations, 2006, p. 17). Support services for students with visual impairments are seen as crucial for their effective inclusion at local schools, as are disability-specific relevant resources (Davis & Hopwood, 2002). Howgego et al. (2014) emphasized the importance of having access to assistive devices such as spectacles, magnifying glasses, mobility aids, braille textbooks, large print materials, and tactile materials.

Local Context and Problem Statement

Ethiopian general education (grades 1–12) is compulsory and free. Students go through 6 years of primary school, 2 years of middle school, and 4 years of secondary school in accordance with the 6-2-4 school structure. The official entry age to primary 1st grade in Ethiopia is 7 years. However, there is no specific upper age limit prohibiting students from enrolling in schools, which leads to the enrollment of students of diverse ages in any one class (Ministry of Education, 2022). Children take a comprehensive exam after finishing 6 years of primary education, which signifies the end of primary school. After finishing 8th grade, students are required to take a nationally prepared comprehensive exam. After a student completes 12th grade, they must take a nationally prepared and administered exam showing the completion of secondary school education or as a transition to a university admission (Ministry of Education, 2020).

A significant educational reform, the General Education Quality Improvement Programme for Equity (GEQIP-E), has been underway under the Ethiopian government since 2018. One goal of the program is to improve inclusive education by raising the number of inclusive education resource centers from 113 to 800 (Ministry of Education, 2016; Yorke et al., 2022). These centers are involved in offering professional assistance to teachers, parents, and individual students. Moreover, they are tasked with providing appropriate assistive devices, educational materials and aids, and the like, for learners with special educational needs.

The centers are staffed with special needs education specialists who serve as itinerant teachers to assist general education classroom teachers in identifying, assessing, and meeting the learning needs of diverse children in local schools including those with visual impairments (Ministry of Education, 2012b). The special needs education specialists are usually trained at diploma- or bachelor's degree level at different local colleges of teacher education and universities that have special needs education departments. The main areas of emphasis in their training, related to supporting students with visual impairments, include braille reading and writing, orientation and mobility, assessment of visual status, and disability-specific teaching techniques. The itinerant teachers working at resource centers are also tasked with providing counseling services for learners with special educational needs and their parents or caregivers, implementing the individualized education program (IEP) of learners with disabilities or special needs, referring children to medical facilities for further diagnosis and treatment, and supporting neighboring schools to promote inclusive education (Ministry of Education, 2016).

Currently, inclusive education resource centers are funded through different approaches. The GEQIP-E provides funding for the centers it has established (World Bank, 2017). The 113 centers established prior to 2018 receive funds mostly from local Woreda education offices, which is an education structure that directly supervises school activities (Ministry of Education, 2015 , 2017). However, multiple local studies have indicated that inclusive education resource centers face budget constraints when carrying out their tasks (Gedfie & Negassa, 2019; Siska et al., 2020; Yorke et al., 2022).

In Ethiopia, children with disabilities have extremely limited access to school, and nearly 93% of this group do not attend school. One major reason for this situation is the low level of awareness of the public at large regarding disability and related issues. It is not uncommon for the public in general and parents of children with disabilities in particular to share negative attitudes toward such children, which often leads to them being kept at home by their parents or caregivers rather than being sent to schools (Ministry of Education, 2012a). Franck (2015) indicated that disability in children in Ethiopia is usually thought to be caused by a parents’ or family's curse. In a study conducted to assess the beliefs of parents about the causes of their children's blindness, it was reported that the “evil eye,” parents’ sin, curse, misdeed in their previous life, and misfortune were among the perceived reasons (Zelalem, 2002). Due to the negative attitudes and other related factors mentioned above, a limited number of children with disabilities have access to school in Ethiopia. According to recent data collected by the Ministry of Education, only 2.7% of school-aged children with disabilities have access to pre-primary education (p. 67), 10.4% have access to primary and middle-level education (p. 69), and 3.6% have access to secondary education, suggesting that the vast majority of children with disabilities are not attending school. In Ethiopia, 4,143 children with visual impairments were enrolled in pre-primary schools, 45,667 were enrolled in primary and middle schools, and 12,163 were enrolled in secondary schools during the academic year 2021–2022 (Ministry of Education, 2022).

Even those students with visual impairments who were enrolled at local schools under the auspice of inclusive education face multiple challenges including negative societal attitudes (Debele, 2021), shortage of materials (Debele, 2021; Ifa, 2020; Rachel, 2016), inconvenient school environments (Debele, 2021), and teachers’ poor skills in managing inclusive classrooms (Ayalew, 2020; Bilka, 2020; Franck, 2015; Franck & Joshi, 2017). Lack of adequate knowledge of braille (Bidika, 2014; Franck, 2015), as well as poor skills with accommodation and modification strategies of curricular contents and teaching approaches (Arkato, 2004; Ayalew, 2020; Bilka, 2020), were reported in studies detailing challenges related to the education of children with visual impairments in the mainstream schools of Ethiopia. Multiple studies also revealed the lack of availability of specialized resources and support mechanisms to strengthen the education of children with visual impairments (Amdebirhan, 2016; Arkato, 2004; Franck, 2015; Fufi, 2020; Mitiku et al., 2014).

The 2012 Special Needs/Inclusive Education Strategy document of Ethiopia, which is still in effect today, states the need to provide continuous support for learners with special educational needs for the successful implementation of inclusive education. School-level inclusive education resource centers have been also established with the intention of supporting students with special needs, including those with visual impairments. Special needs education and inclusive education specialists have been also assigned at schools to address the varied needs of students with disabilities and also to support subject teachers for improved inclusion practices (Ministry of Education, 2015). Nonetheless, the researchers have noticed that some students with visual impairments complain that they lack some resources and also have not been adequately supported by their schools.

The current study was conducted to assess school-level supports and availability of resources for students with visual impairments in inclusive education settings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this study, students with low vision or blindness are referred to as having visual impairments. Two research questions were investigated:
What is the status of availability of resources for students with visual impairments who are mainstreamed in local schools?

What support services are available at local schools for students with visual impairments?

Method

Design

Semi-structured interviews with primary and secondary school students with visual impairments and special needs education specialists working in the inclusive education resource centers of sampled schools were conducted as part of a qualitative study design. The special needs education specialists provided details on the status of support services and resources available for students with visual impairments at their respective schools; students with visual impairments were asked about available resources, supports, and challenges they encountered while attending school in inclusive classrooms at local schools. Inclusive education resource centers at the sampled schools were visited by the researchers who, using a checklist, took note of available resources and support services for students with visual impairments.

Participants

The study was carried out in two districts of Addis Ababa City Administration: Arada and Gullele. The two districts were selected, since they have primary and secondary public schools with relatively large enrollments of students with visual impairments. In most cases, public schools are attended by students with low socioeconomic status. Data were collected from 2 primary and 4 secondary schools which, in the 2021–2022 academic year, enrolled 2–39 students with visual impairments. As indicated in Table 1, a total of 13 students with visual impairments (5 male, 8 female) were interviewed for the data collection. These 13 students were picked from the sampled schools in consultation with the respective special needs education specialists and school leaders. Schools have a list of students with visual impairments, for whom the degree of vision loss was assessed and documented by the special needs education specialist during enrollment. It is also a common practice, during school enrollment, for students with visual impairments to provide a clinical diagnosis regarding the status of their vision loss.

Table 1.
Demographic Characteristics of the Students.

School level School code Sex Grade level Vision status Age

Primary schools School 1 Male 8 Blind 17

Female 6 Blind 16

Female 6 Low vision 18

Male 5 Low vision 24

School 2 Female 8 Blind 17

Secondary schools School 3 Male 11 Low vision 19

Female 10 Blind 19

School 4 Female 9 Blind 16

Male 10 Low vision 27

School 5 Female 11 Blind 25

Male 11 Blind 28

School 6 Female 10 Blind 18

Female 9 Blind 17

Of the students we interviewed, eight of them were drawn from secondary schools and the remaining five were from primary schools. Students who are blind and those who have low vision took part in the study. Students from grades 5 to 11 participated in the study by replying to interview questions. Students in grades 1–4 were purposefully excluded from this study because they may not be able to articulate their opinions clearly.

Moreover, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the inclusive education resource center coordinators from each of the six schools approached for the data collection. All the coordinators were special needs education specialists.

Data Collection

After carefully examining the proposal, with an emphasis on its relevance and ethical considerations, the Department of Special Needs and Inclusive Education of the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, granted approval to conduct the research.

A list of primary and secondary schools that enrolled students with visual impairments in the 2021–2022 academic calendar was accessed from education offices in the districts of Arada and Gullele. Institutional approval was obtained from each school's head teachers prior to the data collection. Verbal consent was obtained from the inclusive education resource center coordinators and students who were 18 years of age or older after explaining the purpose of the study, anonymity of respondents, limits of confidentiality of information gathered, and their right to withdraw from the study at any moment. Students were identified in close consultation with the respective special needs education specialists at school inclusive education resource centers, who also gave consent for those students below 18 years of age.

For respondents who agreed to have their interviews audio recorded, the researchers did so; for those who objected, thorough interview notes were taken.

Data Analysis

As suggested by Creswell (2007), the audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, followed by a line-by-line examination of their responses to highlight key statements about the status of available school-level supports, resources, and challenges faced by students with visual impairments in inclusive education settings. The interviews were conducted by the first author and the two authors independently translated, transcribed, and analyzed the data. Results converged to similar patterns and themes and were discussed until there were no disagreements.

As suggested by Lincoln and Guba (2013), the researchers employed triangulation of sources and member checks to assure credibility of the study findings. Data were collected from students and special needs education specialists for triangulation purposes. Moreover, the copy of the research report was sent to four of the six special needs education specialists, who were easily accessible, to take part in the member checking procedure; three of them were satisfied and requested no change, while the fourth one did not respond.

Before presenting the study's findings, it should be noted that the first author has a child who is blind. We accept that this positionality has had some influence on this research. Otherwise, in order to avoid influencing the study's informants, the researchers have presented themselves as unbiased as feasible. The study participants were not informed by the researchers that the first author is a parent of a child with blindness.

Results

This study endeavored to assess the availability of resources and support services for students with visual impairments in local primary and secondary schools of Addis Ababa. The results presented below are focused on the two research questions. Corresponding subthemes and challenges identified by study participants are also included.

Provision of Resources for Students With Visual Impairments

The majority of informants described the establishment of inclusive education resource centers as the most significant recent development in improving inclusive education practices at local schools. Special needs education specialists were assigned at the centers to closely support subject teachers and also students with special educational needs. Even though the sampled schools have established inclusive education resource centers and also assigned special needs education specialists, they appear to lack resources that are vital to support the education of students with visual impairments. The data analysis revealed concerns with the accessibility of resources for students with visual impairments such as braille materials, audio materials, and magnifying glasses.

One issue that persisted across all of the schools visited was a dearth of braille resources, according to the vast majority of interviewed students with visual impairments. Access to braille textbooks was a problem at many of the schools we visited. For instance, one of the schools we visited had one braille copy of a biology textbook that was used by six pupils in 8th grade. Some textbooks were also said to be completely unavailable, as was the situation at another school, where there were no braille versions of textbooks for history, civics, and geography. A resource center coordinator from one of the schools stated that “there is a huge challenge in providing textbooks in braille, the school should make such resources available, as it was providing printed textbooks to sighted children.” Pupils with visual impairments indicated that even those few braille textbooks that are available are incompatible with the textbooks used in the classroom by sighted students and their teachers. It was discovered that some schools had out-of-date braille textbooks in their libraries. Almost all students who took part in the study reported reference books in braille were unavailable. One 9th-grade student with blindness stated, “Accessing reference books at schools is impossible. There aren’t nearly enough braille textbooks to begin with.”

Mixed responses were recorded regarding the accessibility of braille paper and slates and styluses at the schools we visited. Through the coordinators of their resource centers, some schools indicated that the materials were accessible to the students, and others claimed that it was difficult to supply such materials all year long. Some of the students who were interviewed admitted that they only receive these materials about once a year, after which they purchased their own. One 9th-grade student with blindness commented: “There is shortage of braille paper, slate and stylus. Sometimes these resources were given as a reward for those students with visual impairment[s] with better [academic] achievement.”

Students with visual impairments also expressed their concerns regarding lack of voice recorders and audio-recorded resources. Quite a few students, including those with smartphones, have audio-recording equipment. The great majority of students, however, lack such equipment. The comment below illustrates the challenge:
We urged the school administration to buy audio recorders for our visually impaired children, but [they] replied they have financial limitations. In my opinion, budget constraints weren’t the problem, but rather negligence and not giving due attention to the needs of students with visual impairment[s]. (Secondary school inclusive education resource center coordinator)
Lack of magnifying glasses and eyeglasses for students with low vision was also identified as a challenge at schools. These problems were exacerbated because frequently schools fail to provide enlarged print for students with low vision. It was also evident that schools did not have resources, like talking calculators and abaci for their students with visual impairments. Overall, these results reflect the difficulties related to the access to basic resources that would support the education of students with visual impairments at local schools.

Support for Students With Visual Impairments

The following subthemes related to support emerged from the participants involved in this study: examination administration, support from students and teachers to complete assignments, and training in disability-specific needs.

Examination Administration

One of the challenges that students with visual impairments anonymously identified as being the most difficult was related to examination administration. Respondents indicated that examinations were not administered using braille, since subject teachers lack the ability to transcribe braille. This situation, according to students and special needs education specialists, has forced the students to take examinations orally with the support of sighted peers and subject teachers. Across all the schools visited, classroom tests were administered with the support of sighted peers drawn from the same classroom. One student with low vision described his experience as:
If the student assigned during examination is not a good reader, it will be very difficult to comprehend the question and respond appropriately. This is a common challenge that I face during examinations.
On the other hand, teachers were in charge of administering the midterm and final examinations, about which students interviewed pointed out some advantages and limitations. As an advantage, teachers were indicated to be better at reading and recording responses of students. This arrangement, however, was not always positive. For instance, a 10th-grade student with blindness stated the following:
Most teachers are not happy to administer examination[s] for us [students with visual impairments]. They are not willing to repeat questions and also force us to respond quickly.

In two of the six schools visited, one teacher was assigned to one student to administer examinations due to the relatively few numbers of students with visual impairments at the schools. In contrast, the majority of students’ responses revealed that examinations for students with visual impairments were given in groups, with one teacher assigned to simultaneously administer examinations for two or more students. In this arrangement, the teacher reads the test items while facing the students and records the responses of each student on separate exam sheets. The students responded with their fingers, with one finger to indicate option 1 or “A,” two fingers to indicate option 2 or “B,” and the like. The great majority of students expressed their frustration with this arrangement due to challenges and inaccuracies in recording their responses. Talking about this issue, participants said:
I encountered an examination that has 13 matching items, which I faced a challenge to communicate my responses using fingers. (Sixth grade student with blindness)

When there are confusing questions that I skipped for later checking, teachers were not happy to go back and read again. The situation [taking examinations in group] was not convenient to skip questions. (11th-grade student with blindness)

In some instances, students indicated that the teacher's voice was not loud enough to hear and also examination places were reported to be inconvenient (i.e., not as quiet as required).

Support from Students and Teachers to Complete Assignments

It was reported that schools pair students with visual impairments with sighted peers for support. Assignment submissions were mostly done using handwritten documents that students with visual impairments were neither able to complete independently nor submit using braille. In these cases, according to students who took part in the study, they look for assistance from their sighted peers to write the assignment using paper and pen. One student listed the following as a challenge:
I have encountered a lot of challenges in submitting assignments. I have to beg sighted peers to support me in writing my assignment, which sometimes they are busy and not willing to assist. (10th-grade student with blindness)
Students with visual impairments acknowledged the presence of quite few teachers who extended support aligned with their needs. These supports include individual explanations on difficult topics, psychological support, and preparation of appropriate resources. Sighted students’ support for students with visual impairments seems to vary at primary and secondary school levels. For instance, at primary schools, an 8th-grade student with blindness said, “Sighted peers were not willing to devote their time, as they want to play more, and are mostly not willing to support us on reading and doing assignments.” At secondary schools, the situation was anonymously reported to be relatively better, and similar challenges were reported less frequently.

Training in Disability-Specific Needs

Most of the primary and secondary schools visited did not offer basic computer training to students with visual impairments. There are several reasons why students were not attending information communication technology lessons, according to resource center coordinators who were interviewed. Lack of audio-supporting software like Job Access With Speech (JAWS), students with visual impairments being not willing to attend information communication technology classes, and the subject teachers’ refusal to teach such students were some of the reasons. One blind student in 11th grade had the following view:
The school has many computers at the ICT [information communication technology] center, [in] which JAWS was not installed. I don’t think it was difficult to install the software and make it accessible for us. (Students with visual impairments)
Interview analysis suggested that the inclusive education resource centers at the schools make limited contributions to equip students with visual impairments with basic skills of using an abacus, reading braille, traveling safely with orientation and mobility concepts in mind, and completing activities of daily living. Inclusive education resource center coordinators confirmed this situation. It is a common experience to observe inclusive education resource centers being closed during the school day, since special needs education professionals assigned at the center were in classrooms teaching other subjects. One inclusive education resource center coordinator shared her opinion as follows:
Currently, coordinating various activities of the center [inclusive education resource center] and supporting students with special needs is not my priority assignment[,] as I was assigned to teach other subjects in classrooms. Like other subject teachers, I have to devote much of my time for classroom preparation, exam preparation, marking, and engaging students in various activities. The amount of time left at the center is very minimal. I believe that effective engagement at center requires a full-time commitment[,] which the reality on the ground is not encouraging to do that. (Primary school inclusive education resource center coordinator)

According to inclusive education resource center coordinators, budget constraints and lack of resources were other challenges that hampered the effectiveness of support services provided by inclusive education resource centers to students with visual impairments at schools.

Discussion

It is positive that inclusive education resource centers were established and special needs education specialists were placed in schools in order to improve inclusive education practices in Ethiopia. The findings of the study, however, revealed the lack of resources and the existence of poor levels of support for students with visual impairments in inclusive schools in Ethiopia. It is also evident that students with visual impairments face multiple challenges in local primary and secondary schools of Addis Ababa.

There was a dearth of braille resources for students with visual impairments, which was one of the study's key findings. The study documented a scarcity of textbooks in braille format and an absence of reference materials prepared in braille. The students we interviewed also shared the challenge of accessing audio materials, braille paper, and slates and styluses. These results confirmed the findings of the studies conducted by Mitiku et al. (2014) and Debele (2021), who identified a lack of braille books as a challenge for students with visual impairments in local schools and inclusive classrooms in Ethiopia and supported findings by Franck (2015), who stated that children with visual impairments who were attending mainstream schools in Ethiopia were not provided with textbooks and learning materials. Similarly, Arkato (2004) and Hadgu (2015) reported shortages of special materials and equipment for these students in local schools. The findings of the current study also supported those of Bilka (2020), who identified a lack of tactile materials in schools as posing a challenge for students who are blind. In general, shortages of teaching and learning materials were common challenges faced by children with visual impairments enrolled in local schools (Ayalew, 2020; Fufi 2020; Rachel, 2016).

These findings contradict the standards that are indicated in some of the working documents of the Ministry of Education (2012a, 2015). These documents state that local schools need to be equipped with various resources and specialized materials to support the education of children with disabilities in general and those of students with visual impairments in particular.

Regarding the second research question, students with visual impairments and the coordinators of inclusive education resource centers highlighted the presence of support services, but indicated that they were of poor quality. The study revealed challenges related to examination administration, assignments, support from sighted peers and teachers, and specialized training supports from inclusive education resource centers. The findings were in agreement with Amdebirhan's (2016) study, which showed that schools failed to accommodate students with visual impairments during examination administrations. Problems of obtaining sighted readers, allocating inadequate exam time, and having to cope with non-conducive exam settings were reported as failures of the system to accommodate such children in local schools. Another important finding was that students with visual impairments were challenged when submitting assignments. Teachers were not able to read assignments submitted in braille, so students needed to rely on sighted peers to assist with the preparation of their responses in hand-written form, which was described as inappropriate by the students with visual impairments we interviewed.

It is interesting to note that the students with visual impairments who were interviewed for this study acknowledged the relatively good support they were receiving from their sighted peers, particularly at secondary schools. These findings do not support the previous local research conducted by Bantyrgu (2014) and Abichu (2015), in which social isolation and withdrawal were reported as resulting from negative attitudes of sighted students toward their peers with visual impairments. This discrepancy could be attributed to the location of the studies conducted; the current study was conducted in Addis Ababa, where relatively better levels of awareness might exist compared to rural areas of Ethiopia.

Implications for Practice

Findings from the present study indicate that inclusive education resource centers have limitations in discharging their expected activities. Some of the limitations that were identified through this study were a lack of resources to support the education of students with visual impairments; restricted budgets; and a lack of availability of special needs education specialists because they were engaged in classroom teaching, which left them with little or no time to work at the inclusive education resource centers. Such challenges observed at inclusive education resource centers might hamper the goals that the Ethiopian government has intended for the centers, which are meant to be playing a pivotal role in the implementation of inclusive education for all students. These findings call for a close follow-up investigation of the implementation of goals described in working documents, so that the necessary actions can be taken to further improve the quality of education for children with visual impairments who are mainstreamed in local schools. Moreover, the families of students with visual impairments and educators can utilize the findings of this study to advocate for improved provision of resources and support services at schools.

Limitations and Future Research

The current study has not incorporated the opinions of subject area teachers and parents of students with visual impairments. Triangulation of sources and member checks were used to assure credibility of the study findings, but, other strategies like maintenance of reflexive journals and employment of an auditor, were not employed to further assure confirmability of the data. Future studies need to consider these limitations.

Conclusion

This study has shown that students with visual impairments in Ethiopia face multiple challenges while attending their education in inclusive school settings. Resources like braille, audio materials, and magnifying glasses were not available at satisfactory levels. Shortages of textbooks and reference books in braille were prevalent challenges at schools. The level of support such students were receiving from the school community in general was found to be unsatisfactory. There are significant issues with the administration of examinations and the independent completion of assignments for children with visual impairments in local schools.

Commitment of school leaders in improving education of such children in local schools is a critical factor that needs due attention. School leaders have responsibilities to effectively utilize budgets assigned for inclusive education resource centers and also to closely monitor the quality and type of resources and support services that are provided for students with visual impairments. The proactive involvement of special needs education specialists working at school resource centers is necessary to meet the particular requirements of such children by providing the resources they require and also supporting them when taking exams and submitting assignments. The special needs education specialists must strive to create conducive school environments in which proper support mechanisms and essential resources are facilitated in order to realistically accomplish the inclusion of students with visual impairments in local schools.

School level	School code	Sex	Grade level	Vision status	Age
Primary schools	School 1	Male	8	Blind	17
Female	6	Blind	16
Female	6	Low vision	18
Male	5	Low vision	24
School 2	Female	8	Blind	17
Secondary schools	School 3	Male	11	Low vision	19
Female	10	Blind	19
School 4	Female	9	Blind	16
Male	10	Low vision	27
School 5	Female	11	Blind	25
Male	11	Blind	28
School 6	Female	10	Blind	18
Female	9	Blind	17

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Ermias Kibreab Tesfaye

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