The perception of teachers and education experts towards the implementation of inclusive education in public primary schools of south nations, nationalities peoples region: its practices, challenges and opportunities

The study aimed to investigate the perception of teachers and education experts towards the implementation of inclusive education in primary schools of south nations, nationalities peoples region: its practices, challenges and opportunities. To meet the objectives of the study, descriptive survey method was used. This method is concerned with surveying existing current status of inclusive education practices, opportunities and challenge. Participants of the study were 317 regular and special needs teachers, 33 school principals, woreda, zone and region education bureau experts included in the study. For data collection, Likert Scale, questionnaire, interview, document consultation and check lists were used. The finding revealed that there are environmental and schools challenges for the implementation of inclusive education such as lack of infrastructure, sanitation facilities, ramps, acoustically treated classrooms for hearing impairments, educational materials and services. Moreover, negative attitudes of school administration and teachers, limited utilization of professionals, lack of budget, lack of skillful professionals to screen and identify learners with special needs according to their interest of learning. The finding displayed that, only11.3 % of the children with disabilities got a chance of education, 88.7 % of children with disabilities are still out of the school. Furthermore, finding revealed that grade one students are the highest repeaters of all grades when compared to other grades. The reason is poor treatment and poor early intervention problems of diversity of learning. The study suggested that high attention is needed from the concerned parties for the implementation of the inclusive education.