DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2018.v06i03.038

Pages: 752-759

‘Inclusivity’ in education is a concept that has received widespread attention since the late 20th Century when proponents of emerging inclusive education strongly advocated for the inclusion of learners with special learning needs in mainstream classes. However, even though the inclusive model has been a positive invention and development in the education fraternity, it has had challenges including mixed attitudes by mainstream learners, teachers and society in general. This study sought to explore the attitudes of primary school mainstream pupils towards the inclusion of mildly-mentally- challenged pupils (MMCPs) in regular classes. The study, focused on determining whether primary school mainstream pupils accepted these children in regular classes. A case study design was adopted where the case of two Primary Schools was utilised and a sample of (N=50) Grade seven pupils randomly selected from the two schools was used to accomplish the study. A questionnaire was used to gather data from the participants and percentages were utilised to report research findings. The study revealed that the majority of pupils from the selected primary schools, held positive attitudes towards the inclusion of MMCPs in mainstream classes on the basis that MMCPs were their peers with whom they should be together as they needed each other during and after lessons. Accordingly, the study recommended that the education system should ensure that MMCPs are included in regular classes considering that the majority of regular learners have positive attitudes towards their inclusion in regular classes and that society; which the school mirrors, is ideally inclusive.