Inclusive Education Policies and Access to Basic Education in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis

Dan-Jumbo Rhoda Edevie; Wey-Amaewhule; Blessing Ph.D.

doi:10.56201/ijee.v12.no.2.2026.pg98.109

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Inclusive Education Policies and Access to Basic Education in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis

Dan-Jumbo Rhoda Edevie, Wey-Amaewhule, Blessing Ph.D.

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between inclusive education policies and access to basic education in public junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Rivers State. Three objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study and the correlational research design was adopted. The population of the study was 2604, consisting of 2550 teachers and 54 principals from public junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas. The Taro Yamane formula and the multi-stage sampling technique were used to determine the sample size of 400. The instruments for data collection were two sets of researcher-designed questionnaires titled Inclusive Education Policies Questionnaire and Access to Basic Education Questionnaire . The Cronbach alpha formula was used to determine the reliability of the instruments and the correlation coefficients obtained were 0.78, 0.79 and 0.74 for the clusters and 0.87 for . The Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used for data analysis, and the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. To determine the statistical significance of each correlation coefficient, the r-value was transformed into a t-value. The findings of the study reveal among others that there is a moderate positive relationship between compulsory free education policy and access to basic education in public junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis. The study concluded that several inclusive education policies, namely compulsory free education, disability-friendly infrastructure and teacher training on inclusive education have significant relationship with access to basic education in public junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis The study among others recommended that the Ministry of Education should strengthen the implementation of compulsory free education policies by eliminating all hidden costs and providing necessary funding to public junior secondary schools.

Keywords

Inclusive Education PoliciesAccess to Basic EducationDisability-friendly Infrastructure PolicyCompulsory Free EducationTeacher Training.

References

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Inclusive Education Policies and Access to Basic Education in Public Junior Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis

Abstract

Keywords

References

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