| dc.description.abstract | The education of all children regardless of their abilities/disabilities is a right as enshrined in international and national conventions and legal provision. Children with special needs get disadvantaged because their education requires more resources and individual attention in certain situations. This includes children with visual impairment (VI). The purpose of this study was to investigate the implication of visual impairment on academic performance among class seven learners in two selected special primary schools in the Lake region of Kenya. The study objectives were: to investigate the influence of teaching and learning resources on academic performance of learners with visual impairment, to investigate teachers' attitudes' towards teaching learners with VI; to determine the influence of parental involvement on academic performance of learners with VI and to establish the influence of teaching strategies on the academic performance of learners with visual impairment. This study used a concurrent triangulation design within a mixed method approach. Data was collected using questionnaires for teachers and an interview schedule for head teachers, class teachers and learners. The target population for this study consisted of 50 teachers and 40 learners. Saturated sampling techniques were adapted for selecting the teachers while purposive sampling was used to select the learners. The sample size consisted of all the 50 teachers and 10 class seven learners. Data from the questionnaires were analyzed using inferential and descriptive statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22. The validity of the questionnaires was ensured by expert judgment by the university supervisors. Reliability of the questionnaires was ensured by the split half method and reliability coefficient of 0.833 was reported. Those from the interview schedule were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The findings of the study were that, there was significant positive effect of teaching and learning resources on the academic performance of learners with visual impairment, positive correlation between Attitude of the teachers and academic performance of learners with visual impairment, moderate but positive correlation between parental involvement and academic performance and a fair positive correlation between teaching strategies and academic performance of learners with visual impairment. The study recommended that there should be regular sensitization meeting for parents, the Ministry of Education should supply special schools in Kenya with adequate teaching and learning resources and that good infrastructure is required to ensure the development of quality teaching and learning. The study is significant to Ministry of Education (MOE) in the process of formulating policy, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in the process of curriculum development and among other stakeholders such as parents and teachers in understanding issues concerning the education of learners with visual impairment. | en_US |
