Infl uence of physical school facilities on learning performance of students with physical disabilities: A case study of Dodoma city secondary schools

Abstract

The focus of this study is an investigation on influence of supportive physical school facilities such as classrooms, ramps, laboratories, toilets and sports grounds on the learning performance of students with physical disabilities (SWPDs) in Tanzania. A case of seventeen secondary schools having students with physical disabilities in Dodoma City were visited. The study used a cross-sectional survey design and questionnaires for data collection. The study assessed the influence of classrooms, ramps, toilets, laboratories and sports grounds on learning performance of SWPDs. A multistage sampling procedure was used to obtain study sample of 350 respondents. Up to 327 participants including 294 teachers and 33 students with physical disabilities returned their questionnaires. The study employed structural equation model (SEM) in analysing quantitative data. The findings have shown that, laboratories and sports facilities (sports grounds) have significant influence on SWPDs’ learning performance (p 0.05). The toilets, ramps, and classrooms, on the other hand, do not have a direct influence on learning performance of SWPDs. The findings imply that, much improvement is needed so that the available physical school facilities can accommodate SWPD usage and fitting.