Abstract:
Inclusive education is an issue of social and policy significance in the education system.
Apparently, the implementation of the inclusion policy appears with statistics showing
that less than 10.0% of special needs children have been enrolled in pre-schools in Keiyo
South Sub County, Kenya. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of
pre-school teachers’ identification of learners with special needs in public ECDE centres
in Keiyo South Sub County, Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. The target population
involved 247 teachers from 153 public pre-schools and 5 Sub County ECDE programme
officers. A sample size of 151 of pre-school teachers and 5 ECDE field officers were
selected to participate in the study through cluster sampling technique. The instruments
used in this study were a questionnaire and the interview schedule. Results showed that
pre-school teachers had moderate competencies in identifying learners with special
needs in public pre-primary canters in Keiyo South Sub County, Kenya. There is need for
pre-school teachers to be provided with training to gain skills on early identification of
SNE learners to enable appropriate early interventions to be provided.
