Alternative Assessment for Learners with Special Needs in The Zambian Education System: A Case Study of Grade 12 Candidates with Cerebral Palsy at Dagama School for The Physically Challenged
Abstract:
A case study was conducted on Grade 12 candidates with Cerebral Palsy at Dagama School for the Physically Challenged in Luanshya District of the Copperbelt Province of Zambia who were very good at typing on the computer but could not write properly using a pen and depended on a teacher to transcribe the answers in an examination. The study objectives were to assess the levels of difficulty between the handwritten and typing skills of the candidates, to establish the learner’s abilities at using a computer when writing the examinations and the challenges candidates with cerebral palsy face when writing their exams as well as to find out alternative assessments that could be given to candidates with cerebral palsy for fairness to prevail. A descriptive study research design was used to conduct the study. The study sample included 1 Principal Examinations Specialist under the Special Education Unit from Examinations Council of Zambia, 5 teachers from Dagama School for the Physically Challenged, 5 teachers from University Teaching Hospital Special School and 4 learners with special needs making a total sample of 15 participants. Data was collected through structured interviews, participant observation and assessment typed by the student. The findings revealed that students with Cerebral Palsy found it easier to type their answers on a computer than writing using their pens since they were not stable where writing was concerned. The findings also revealed that the Zambian Education system had not considered learners with Cerebral Palsy so much where assessment was concerned because they were able to type faster than writing using a pen. It was also found that learners with Cerebral Palsy were willing to use computers unlike wring answers using their handwriting as they were slow and missed some letters or words which led to them writing wrong answers. The study made several recommendations of which some of them were that; the assessment during regional and national examinations for learners with Cerebral Palsy should be optioned to using computers unlike writing using pens and that the Examinations Council of Zambia through the Ministry of Education should have a deliberate policy to help the learners with Cerebral Palsy to have an option to type their examination answers or give them online examinations.
