Exclusion of children with disabilities from early childhood education: Including approaches of social exclusion

Abstract

Including all children in all educational settings is mandatory to realize the outcome of inclusion. But, there is a denial of enrolment from early childhood settings for children with disabilities. This study explored the exclusion of children with disabilities from early childhood education (ECE) systems in Ambo, Ethiopia. To reach the proposed objective, 13 interviews were conducted with parents of children with disabilities, and focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with early childhood directors. The study focused on the exclusion and the factors of the exclusion and examining this exclusion through social exclusion perspective. Thematic content analysis was applied to analyze the results. Results of this study revealed that parents, the ECE centers, and government bodies were involved in the exclusion process. Socio-cultural barriers, absences of early identification, scarcity of resources, and reluctances of government were factors for the exclusion of children with disability from ECE. The exploration of this exclusion in social exclusion perspectives points to parents, ECE centers, and the government as agents of exclusion. Whereas those factors for exclusion were identified as causal dimensions allowing social exclusion. This implies the exclusionary phenomenon has the concept of social exclusion which needs numerous interventions.