SUPPORTING THE SPECIAL EDUCATION UNIT SYSTEM IN PROMOTING INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

This study was conducted to investigate the practice of the Special Education Unit (SEU) system in regular schools and its way forward to support the Inclusive Education (IE) system in the Ampara District. A survey design and qualitative and quantitative approaches were followed to conduct this study. The questionnaire, interview, and focus group discussion were utilized to collect data. 27 schools with Special Educational Needs (SENs) and participants were purposively selected. Data was collected from 27 school principals, 86 teachers from SEUs, seven In-Service Advisers of Special Education (ISA SE), and 35 parents of students with SEN. SPSS-16 was utilized for quantitative data analysis and the content analysis utilized qualitative data. The findings show that SEUs have been in practice since 2002 with the collaboration of the stakeholders, and it supports the improvement of IE practices in schools. Further, the study recommends that educational administrators should be allocated adequate resources and follow a mechanism to improve IE practices. Article visualizations: