Schooling children with disabilities during COVID-19: Perspectives of teachers and caregivers in Ethiopia

Abstract

This paper provides insights into the experiences of children with disabilities in an Ethiopian context during prolonged school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on data gathered through telephone surveys from parents of children with disabilities who had been attending school prior to closures and teachers working in different educational settings, we discuss children’s learning journeys during closures, motivations to return to school and the implications of this on current educational reform efforts in Ethiopia. Our findings highlight the significant merits of including children with disabilities explicitly in wider education reform efforts; the many positive gains seen in parental desires to send their child back to school; and the need to recognize and strengthen the role of schools as spaces for promoting children’s socio-emotional well-being.

Points of Interest

• Schooling of children with disabilities in Ethiopia was significantly impacted due to the lack of accessible learning materials available at home and in schools

• Caregivers expressed that returning to school was a strong priority for their child with disabilities

• Teachers and caregivers noted significant negative impact of closures on children’s social and emotional well-being, with many reporting heightened feelings of sadness, loneliness, isolation, and diminished interest in learning and playing among their children.

• Caregivers and teachers felt that more could be done to support families and schools during such times, especially with better allocation of resources.

Keywords:

• disabilities
• education
• COVID-19
• caregiver
• teacher
• Ethiopia

Introduction

COVID-19 has been rightly described as the biggest educational emergency during peace time. At various times for over two years, countries have had to shut down vital services for their entire population, including schools. Unsurprisingly, such unprecedented school closures have significantly disrupted the lives of school children, especially children with disabilities. As restrictions began to be lifted and schools re-opened slowly, concerns have been raised about how re-opening schools will pan out and if educational gains in improved access for children with disabilities before the closures continue (Azevedo et al. 2021; McClain-Nhlapo et al. 2020). This paper provides important insights into both the motivations for children to return and their learning journey during closures and discusses the impact on schooling as we plan ahead. The data were collected from an Ethiopian context during the lockdown and when schools were beginning to re-open.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is the second most populous African nation with an estimated 115 million people. Most of the population lives in rural areas (around 80%) and have high linguistic and ethnic diversity (World Bank 2021). Rapid economic growth is central to the government’s development strategy, but for now the human development indicators remain low, with Ethiopia ranking 173 of 189 rated countries (United Nations Development Programme 2020). Based on the World Report on Disability (World Health Organization 2011), Ethiopia has about 15 million children, adults, and elderly persons with disabilities or about 17.6% of the population.

Education of children with disabilities in Ethiopia

Although educational indicators in the country tend to be very poor, over the last decade and a half various efforts have been made, particularly since the introduction of the General Education Quality Improvement Programme (GEQIP) in 2008. The focus of this programme has been on increasing access, quality and since 2018 a commitment towards equity in education (Hoddinot et al. 2020). Funded by a consortium of donors, administered by the World Bank, and implemented by the government, these reform efforts have also explicitly focused on the inclusion of children with disabilities.

In 2013, only 4% of children with disabilities were enrolled in primary school in Ethiopia (Ministry of Education 2015). Official statistics between 2014 and 2019 reveal a steady increase in national enrolments, to about 11% (Ministry of Education 2020a). Introduced in 2006 (Ministry of Education (Ministry of Education and Ethiopia) 2006), the country’s Special Needs/Inclusive Education (SNE) Strategy, revised in 2012, has evolved considerably over the years and provided impetus for positive change. The overall goal of this revised strategy is ‘to build an inclusive education system which will provide quality, relevant and equitable education and training to all children, youth and adults with SEN [special educational needs] and ultimately enable them to fully participate in the socio-economic development of the country’ (Ministry of Education 2012, 14).

Two specific objectives of the strategy are expanding functional support systems and adapting the curriculum to the demands of children with special educational needs. Accordingly, in 2015, the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Finish Government developed a guideline for establishing Inclusive Education Resource/Support Centres (IERC). The IERC guideline has the following objectives: introduce clear concepts, ideas, and practices about resource centres in the minds of the implementers; specify the duties and responsibilities of implementers at all levels; set indicators that can be used for evaluation and reflection; and assess and improve IERCs (Ministry of Education 2015, 7).

Presently, regular schools with established IERCs provide pedagogical support for children with disabilities by assigned itinerant teachers (who are trained special education teachers). However, other types of schooling practices are also present, such as special schools- both residential or otherwise for specific types of disabilities; in some cases children with disabilities also learn in special units that are attached to regular primary schools (Ministry of Education 2017).

State efforts to support primary education during school closures

Since 2020, studies have estimated that nearly 26 million learners in Ethiopia have missed out on valuable opportunities to pursue their education because of unprecedented and prolonged school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic (UNESCO n.d.; Yorke et al. 2021b). Almost 26 million students (pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary level) from over 47,000 schools in urban and rural areas of Ethiopia were told to stay home after 16 March 2020 (UNICEF. 2020). Growing evidence suggests that school closures have had detrimental effects on educational outcomes, including losses in literacy and numeracy (Conto et al. 2020; Hossain 2021). More importantly, during this period, learners were denied access to physical, emotional, and psychological support provided by feeding programmes; safe and protective spaces; and social-emotional learning programmes (UNESCO 2020; Favara et al. 2022). Consequentially, there are concerns that inequalities will widen between different groups of students, especially across gender, location (rural vs. urban), income level, and disability (Favara et al. 2022; Caarls et al. 2021).

Early in the pandemic, the government published the Concept Note for Education Sector COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan (Ministry of Education 2020). This plan described the measures to reduce the impact of school closure on student learning. Special emphasis was placed on supporting disadvantaged students as ‘vulnerable and disadvantaged children are the most affected and hence will be given special emphasis during this complicated crisis’ (p. 1). To ensure continuity of learning at all levels while schools are closed, the Concept Note considered the following three remote learning approaches: (i) digital learning, which focused on internet-based resources and content accessed by computer, tablet, or smart phone; (ii) audio-video programs, which focused on repackaging all digital and non-digital curricular content so it could be delivered via television and radio; (iii) material distribution, which focused on distributing the repackaged digital and non-digital curricular content for children through connected devices and hard copies (Ministry of Education 2020b).

Despite these efforts, reports from Ethiopia show that these attempts to reach all students had mixed success, with uneven distribution across urban and rural areas and particularly low coverage for disadvantaged groups, including children with disabilities (Azevedo et al. 2021; Jones et al. 2022; Tiruneh et al. 2021; Kim et al. 2020; Wieser et al. 2020; Tiruneh 2020). Moreover, teachers and other educators were not given specific instructions about how to support students with disabilities during school closure. Although children with disabilities were more visible in guidelines issued by the Ministry on addressing school re-opening issues, where it was noted that the government would provide sufficient support for children with disabilities who have complex needs during the pre- and re-opening periods. This support included identifying children with disabilities with more complex needs and working with them, their families, and community support agencies. In addition, a plan was set in place for identifying contingencies when the number of caregivers was limited, or none were available (Ministry of Education 2020b). From mid-October 2021, schools in Ethiopia re-opened on a staggered basis, with priority being given to rural schools.

Research approach and method

Due to national lockdown and government guidelines, the safest way to gather data was through remote methods during the height of the pandemic, hence we chose a survey design. Surveys also gave us the possibility of capturing both quantitative data for descriptive analysis and in-depth qualitative data on experiences and perceptions concerning the impact of school closure on the education of children with disabilities and their return to school. The study was initially planned as a telephone survey to be administered to caregivers and teachers, but as schools were already in the process of re-opening at the time, many teachers were too busy preparing for the re-opening to participate in a telephone survey but were more willing to participate through face-to-face interviews. Hence, 68% of the teacher data was collected during telephone interviews and 32% was collected during face-to-face interviews. During the face-to-face interviews, COVID-19 safety procedures were followed. The data collection took place between October 2020 and February 2021.

As the data were part of a larger study, ethical approval for the entire project was undertaken through the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge ethical review committee. In Ethiopia, permission was also obtained from the Federal Ministry of Education (ref no. 13-2/10/1982/30). The data were collected by two inclusive education professionals (An Inclusive Education Advisor at the Ethiopian Centre for Disability and Development and a special needs and inclusive education lecturer from Dilla University). The Ethiopian team worked alongside the researchers from the UK and Sweden, who took the lead in the design of the on-line survey and in the analysis and writing up of the data.

The survey

Two 30-question surveys were prepared, one for caregivers and one for teachers. These surveys were contextualised in collaboration with the country team. Most of the questions had a multiple-choice option, but for some questions a three-point Likert scale was used. The survey concluded with a few open-ended questions, which encouraged the participants to express their views and experiences freely.

The survey for caregivers covered five themes: (1) background information; (2) information about the child with disabilities; (3) schooling and learning of the child with disabilities during school closure; (4) impact of school closure on the child with disabilities and the caregivers; and (5) the child with disabilities return to school. The teacher survey covered four themes: (1) teacher background information; (2) schooling during closures; (3) schooling during closures specifically for children with disabilities; and (4) education recovery with a focus on children with disabilities

Both the caregiver and teacher surveys were translated into Amharic. The surveys were then piloted with a minimum of two caregivers and two teachers via the telephone. The piloting checked for the appropriateness, clarity and flow of questions, time required for survey completion, as well as provided an opportunity to capture through the responses to the open questions areas of inquiry that could be useful for integrating into the final version.

Sampling

Using a purposive sampling approach, caregivers and teachers who were likely to have or teach children with disabilities were contacted. To account for the diversity and geographical variation within the country, this study was carried out in three regional states (Oromia, Amhara, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Regions) and one City Administration (Addis Ababa). This practical decision was also influenced by the fact that these regions had been making efforts before the pandemic to include children with disabilities. For example, the Amhara Regional State had provided financial incentives for students with disabilities to stay in school and Oromia Regional State, the largest regional state, has many school-aged children.

People tasked with delivering inclusive education at the education bureaus of the selected regional states and city administration education were contacted. Together, they provided 102 contact addresses of potential schools that enrolled children with disabilities. At each of these schools, the school directors were contacted. Based on this communication, the phone numbers of caregivers and school personnel were obtained, resulting in a total of 250 potential participants. The final sample included 57 caregivers and 100 school personnel, and these participants represented different professions working in schools – itinerant teachers who are based in IERCs (35), general education teachers (35), deputy directors (10), unit leaders (10), and assistant teachers (10).

Research process

At first contact, the researchers introduced themselves and provided a brief introduction of the overall objective of the project and explained the right to withdraw, confidentiality, and how data would be used. A date and time for the interview was scheduled, and a follow-up SMS was sent with a summary of the information about the project, information on consent, and the date, time and if relevant location of the interview. During the interview, at the very start, the purpose of the survey was reiterated along with aspects of confidentiality. The format of the survey and type of questions were explained and verbal permission to record the interview was obtained. The survey was conducted in the preferred language- English or Amharic. Hard copies of the survey questions were used to make sure that all questions were addressed. After the interview, participants were compensated for phone usage costs.

Throughout the research process, we ensured that basic ethical principles as mandated in the BERA ethical guidelines (2018) were followed. The team members spent considerable time discussing issues such as anonymity and confidentiality of data, respect for participants’ time, and transparency of the objectives and benefits.

Using mobile phones to contact caregivers limited the sample to caregivers who could afford mobile phones and therefore more likely to be better educated. Thus, our findings, to some degree, focus on the experiences of those who are relatively economically better off and educated than the many families of children with disabilities who live in very poor circumstances. Nonetheless, the findings provide unique insights into the lived experiences of children with disabilities during the pandemic in Ethiopia, which are largely unavailable in the current literature. It should also be noted that 40% of our caregiver sample were male, which is interesting given that in other research studies most caregiver interviews seem to be dominated by women respondents. However, this could also be a reflection of who owns the phone in the family.

Data analysis

At the end of each week of data collection, the data recorded on paper were uploaded by the Ethiopian team onto an online survey (Survey Monkey) in English. At the same time, the Ethiopian team transcribed and translated into English answers to the open-ended questions. For data analysis purposes numerical responses were downloaded from the online survey to Excel, and the qualitative open-ended questions were saved as Word documents. The numerical responses were scanned for potential errors and cleaned before analysis. Then, frequency tables were constructed, and descriptive analysis was undertaken, which was followed by a more in-depth thematic and comparative analysis across and within stakeholder groups. Frequency (percentage) analysis was undertaken across the dimensions of the gender of the children, disability type, region, school year, and school type. Multiple cross tabulations were produced to identify the patterns, trends, differences, and similarities across groups. Two researchers read through the responses to the open-ended questions and developed themes independently. These impressions from the narrative responses were then discussed for overlaps and divergences to determine level of intercoder agreement. This led to the identification of the final key themes, and quotations were subsequently extracted to illustrate these themes.

Results

Overview of the participants

Caregivers

Of the 51 caregivers interviewed, 24 (47%) identified themselves as mothers, 20 (40%) were fathers, and 7 (13%) were other family members. Caregivers were largely equally distributed within each region. The level of education was relatively high, 30% said they had completed secondary education, 28% higher education, and 14% primary education, and 28% had no education. The well-educated sample was skewed to caregivers living in Addis Ababa. In Oromia as well as Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Regions, 50% of the caregivers had no education. The three main livelihoods that the caregivers were engaged in were small business owners (26%), government employees (21%), and agriculture (18%). The remaining reported working in the service sector (12%), private business (11%), or unemployed (12%), and 19% of the sample reported a monthly household income of less than 11 USD and 26% reported an income of 12 USD–22 USD, suggesting low-income households. All the families had at least one child with a disability in the 6–15-year-old age group, and 75% of these children were above the age of 11.

The children had a wide variety of disabilities, with majority having cognitive disabilities, such as intellectual disability and autism (37%), visual difficulties (25%), physical disabilities (16%), and hearing difficulties (13%). In addition, some students had multiple disabilities (5%) and some had behavioural impairments (5%). Gender distribution across the child sample was 61% males and 39% females. Of the children with disabilities, 84% were enrolled in primary grades (grades 1–5). Most the students attended a regular school with IERC (63%), fewer attended a regular school without IERC (23%), and even fewer (14%) attended special schools (i.e. schools designed for children with special needs). Most the schools (82%) were government run, and the remaining (18%) were either private, NGO, or religious schools.

Teachers

Gender distribution across the teacher sample was largely equal and most the teachers were working in urban areas (68%). Level of education varied across the sample, with a predominance of school personnel with an undergraduate degree (57%) and 35% having a diploma in teaching. A few had a master’s degree (8%), but they were working as school directors, deputy directors, or unit leaders and were based in urban areas of Oromia and Addis Ababa. The sample was quite experienced: 72% had worked in the profession for 6 years or more, and 48% of these had over 10 years of experience. Of those with over 10 years of experience, most (66%) were based in Addis Ababa and Oromia. There was representation of personnel from the three types of schools: over 51% were working in regular schools with IERC, 37% in regular schools without IERC, and 12% in special schools.

Most the students were reported as having visual (n=91), hearing (n=74), cognitive (n=71), physical (n=59), and/or behavioural (n=49) difficulties/impairments. Additional difficulties reported were language and communication and multiple disabilities.

Returning to school was a strong priority

During the data collection period, schools had begun a phased opening which provided our research team some unique insights into not just the closures but also at a point of transition. Several media campaigns were launched at the national level to encourage caregivers to send their children back to school. The teachers we interviewed also noted that schools were actively seeking out and reassuring caregivers that it was safe to send their child back to school. These reassurances were undertaken through use of telephones, visits to the home (especially in rural areas), brochures and letters to caregivers, as well as through the active the involvement of community leaders.

During school visits, caregiver ‘orientation’ was given significant importance as it showed school readiness for receiving children in terms of the precautionary measures being taken. These approaches were also reiterated by caregiver respondents:

The school has given us masks and only three days a week (every other day) is class arranged for students. (mother, boy)

[The school] provided us sanitizer and orientation for the children as well as class size is reduced. (father, boy)

COVID-19 prevention steps are posted in the school and raised awareness about it with printed materials. (grandmother, boy)

[The school] oriented us [on] how ready they are for taking care of children with disabilities like my nephew. (uncle, boy)

These reassurances seemed to have a positive impact as 62% of the teachers observed that almost all the students with disabilities had returned to school and 35% stated that more than half had done so. Many caregivers (79%) also noted that their child with disabilities had returned to school. Of the 12 children reported by caregivers as not having returned to school, eight attended schools that had not re-opened. Only four caregivers made an active choice not to send their child back to school due to concerns about COVID-19. The importance of ensuring that their child continued with her/his education is illustrated in the following quotation:

I told him the importance of education for him, more than everybody, because he has a disability. (mother, boy)

Although caregivers actively encouraged their children to return to school, many (89%) were apprehensive about their child’s safety and hygiene when asked to rate their concerns as schools opened. Many (77%) were worried that their child might not adjust to the school routine, many (66%) were concerned about loss of learning, and many (50%) were concerned about low motivation to learn. In preparing their child to return to school, hygiene remained an overarching concern:

I have given her sanitizer, taught her not to touch others and how to greet during COVID time. (mother, girl)

I trained my child to wash hands with water and soap every time he touched someone or something that others touch. (grandmother, boy)

I have trained my child on how to use the face mask and sanitizer. (mother, boy)

Several caregivers (23%) focused on supporting their child’s learning to help their transition back to school:

I have provided learning materials and guided him to study. I have encouraged him back to school. (mother, boy)

I prepared my child by providing reference books and guiding him in his study. (mother, boy)

Interestingly, 9 of 13 caregivers of children attending mainstream schools without IERC (13 caregivers) put greater focus on learning in preparation for the return to school, whereas 4 of 36 caregivers attending schools with an IERC focused on learning in preparation for the return to school. Some caregivers acknowledged the challenges:

It was so difficult to prepare my child with autism because my child is change resistant. The school had an outreach program before re-opening and that helped me more with preparing him for school. (father, boy)

Unsurprisingly, this focus on preparing children to return to school was a challenge as most children in our sample had received little or no support with their learning during the pandemic. Many teachers had not been in touch with the children or their families; only 41 of the teachers reported that they had some contact with their students during the school closures. Of the teachers who had contact with their students, 29 (71%) reported contact with students once a month and 12 (29%) reported contact with students twice a month. Teachers in mainstream schools with an attached IERC were twice as likely to contact caregivers as teachers in mainstream schools without an attached IERC. None of the teachers working in special schools reported being in touch with the caregivers of their students.

Teachers tended to contact students by visiting or telephoning the child’s house. Notably, in all cases the primary reason for contact focused on providing families with information about COVID-19, and 41% of the teachers reported that they had received some guidelines from their Woreda Education Office during closures. These official guidelines were primarily intended to provide families information on how to stop the spread of COVID-19. Only 4% of the mainstream teachers mentioned a focus on lessons in the received guidelines. Importantly, none of the special school teachers reported having received any instructions from the Woreda Education Office, and as noted earlier, none had made any contact with their students.

Overall, the findings suggest that teachers who had been given guidelines by Woreda were more likely to have contacted families irrespective of type of school (i.e. school with or without IERC). Almost all teachers who had received instructions contacted caregivers. Furthermore, teachers working in regular schools with IERCs reported receiving more support from the Woreda Education Office and NGOs, compared with regular schools without IERCs, although no such support was reported by special school personnel. Support from NGOs was also more commonly reported by teachers working in urban areas than in rural areas (50% vs. 7%).

This picture of little contact from schools was also strongly reflected in the data from the caregivers: 84% of caregivers reported that they had not been contacted by the school. Only nine caregivers mentioned some contact, and these children were studying in regular schools with IERCs. The frequency of contact for five of the families was regular. One of these families reported that the ‘[t]he Special Needs Educator used to come once every two months and made phone calls three times every month’. However, most of the caregivers reported a markedly different scenario. In addition to no direction from teachers, children were also challenged by a significant lack of resources supporting their learning.

Limited access to learning materials and low levels of engagement with formal learning

When identifying the three main barriers that children with disabilities faced in continuing their learning during school closures, teachers most often indicated that availability of accessible learning materials was a barrier. Financial barriers faced by caregivers was the next most often identified barrier. The third most often indicated barrier was the lack of a personal assistant and additional academic support. The teachers also indicated their own financial challenges as a barrier. Although there was little difference in opinion among teachers working in different types of schools, financial barriers, particularly teachers not having the money for phone calls, was more likely to be highlighted by special school personnel, who, as noted above, had not established any contact with caregivers.

Similarly, caregivers were more likely to indicate availability of accessible learning materials as a barrier. The lack of personal assistant or additional academic support was next most often mentioned barrier. Unavailability of devices and no internet were also commonly identified. A few caregivers also mentioned the lack of books and printed materials as a barrier. Only one caregiver mentioned having both a radio and a computer. One noted that ‘all the [specialised] equipment he [his child] was familiar with was not available at home’.

Therefore, it is unsurprising that caregivers reported that their child with disabilities spent very little time studying; 63% reported that their child spent no time on formal learning. Notable gender differences emerged; according to caregivers, 82% of the girls did not study at all, whereas 51% of boys did not study at all. When studying was taking place, children were, in most cases, supported by their siblings. According to caregivers, only 18% of the children spent more than an hour studying daily.

Clearly, caregivers were anxious about their children’s loss of learning as 82% were worried that their child might fall behind in their learning and 72% categorically stated that the loss of adequate schooling for a year would impact their child’s future opportunities. Similar views were expressed by teachers, who noted that the lack of availability of accessible and adapted learning materials contributed to this lack of engagement in formal learning processes when children were stuck at home.

Teachers also believed that school closures had reduced children’s motivation to engage in learning and playing (95%). They also voiced fears of parental and caregiver neglect (77%). In addition, special school personnel were found to be much more concerned than those working in other types of schools. A possible reason for these heightened concerns could be that special school teachers had not communicated with their students or their families during the closures. It is also plausible that the learning and additional needs of children attending special schools could be higher, placing increased demands on the caregivers, a situation that the special school teachers were aware of.

Significant concerns on the social, emotional, and financial impacts of closures

Across the caregivers, substantial concerns were highlighted regarding the negative impact of closures on children’s socio-emotional well-being. These data dramatize the significant isolation of children with disabilities. Lost contact with friends was most often reported by caregivers as having an emotional impact on their disabled child. Caregivers also observed boredom, sadness, loneliness, isolation, and diminished interest in learning and playing and noted changes in behaviour such as increased feelings of confusion and fear.

Almost all the teachers (99%) expressed concerns about loneliness and anxiety, with much greater concern being expressed by those working in special and mainstream schools with IERCs. Over half the teachers noted the risk of domestic violence (53%), and many (34%) acknowledged that children were missing out on important therapies and other essential services (e.g. nutritional needs) delivered through schools.

In addition, the caregivers faced considerable challenges during the COVID-19 lockdowns, which were amplified further as they no longer had support from the schools taking care of their child with disabilities. When discussing the impact of school closures on their lives, caregivers were acutely aware of increased demands on themselves, particularly their time:

The school was sharing my burden and the closure added me more responsibility about my child with a physical disability. (father, girl)

Before COVID-19 she used to be in school and I had some break until she returned back to home, but during the school closure, I have been taking too much of a burden to take care of her. (mother, girl)

Caregivers acknowledged that they were unable to attend to work, as they needed to look after their child. Interestingly, this was mentioned as a much greater concern for boys (10 boys and 1 girl). This could be due to the fact that there was a greater number of boys with physical disability and intellectual impairment in our sample. This loss of work resulted in loss of family income:

My income is reduced, because I am spending more time at home to take care of my child. (mother, boy)

In contrast, some caregivers noted how spending more time with their child had helped them become more aware of their child’s needs:

It gave me an opportunity to read more about how to handle a child with behavioural impairment and I have practiced it. I have learned more things on how to support children with disabilities at home. (father, boy)

Caregivers also appreciated the value of spending time with their child:

It was an opportunity for me to stay with my child because I have no other family members who live with me and my child. (aunt, girl)

I enjoyed being with my children at home while school was closed. I had time to discuss with them. Of course, they were assisting me with home-based activities. (mother, boy)

All the teachers rated safety and hygiene of the students as the most important concern, followed by concerns that children might have forgotten what was learned before the school closure (92%) and their low motivation to learn (87%). More positively, teachers seemed to be much less worried about the previous systems of support being in place as children returned to school (26%). Teachers noted that now that schools were re-opening, they could ensure the schools were prepared for COVID-19:

The school has made available protective materials like face masks for each learner, a water tank for hand washing, and sanitizer at the gates of the classroom. (special school)

The school has been engaged in the fulfilment of the required COVID-19 protective materials, particularly on the provision of face masks and sanitizers. (mainstream school without IERC)

Many teachers described having undergone training to implement the safety measures and create a safe learning environment. Others mentioned discussions in the school regarding how to teach learners safely.

What can be done differently?

All respondents were asked to share what they considered to be the best ways to support the learning of children with disabilities if school closure was to happen again. A strong consensus emerged across the groups with a desire for better availability of learning materials, tailored to the specific needs of the pupil:

It is better to focus on the accessibility and availability of educational materials for all types of impairment. (special school)

In addition to better availability, many caregivers and teachers stressed the timely distribution of such material to students in their homes:

Distributing different learning materials at home that can meet the learning needs of individuals. (mother, boy)

Sending lessons and activities to students in advance. (mainstream school with IERC)

They drew attention to the importance of digitalizing the teaching-learning process to support learning by investing and developing accessible remote options. However, some noted that while this was important, it was vital to consider the needs of the children and the realities of the situation they were living in. Among other concerns, digitalizing requires access to electricity, tablets, and appropriate software:

The remote learning approach needs to be in action. For example, distance learning access through radio can be an option because it is easily accessible for the majority of the people. (mother, boy)

Working on remote learning access is considering the needs of children with disabilities, the capacity of caregivers, availability of technologies at the parent’s home, knowledge of caregivers in using technologies, availabilities of electricity, and the like. (special school)

Teachers were mindful of strengthening the capacity of schools to do so and allocating adequate budget to support their production:

Government needs to allocate a budget for the production of distance learning materials. (mainstream school without IERC)

Strengthening the capacity of the school in preparing and distributing distance learning. (mainstream school with IERC)

Strengthening collaboration between home and school was another area highlighted as essential when developing distance learning modalities:

A collaborative effort [needs to be taken] between educational stakeholder needs to be implemented to create distance learning opportunities. (mother, boy)

For many of the teachers, the intent to strengthening collaboration significantly helped raise awareness, providing guidance and developing parental capacity to help, support, and teach their children at home:

Creating awareness for families on how to handle and support their children at home. (mainstream school with IERC)

Strengthening collaboration between the school and the caregivers would be a strategy that I can recommend. (mainstream school without IERC)

In addition, teachers and caregivers found that home visits provided support to caregivers and children and was useful as a way to assess and follow-up learning:

If schools get closed again, I would be happy if schools and supporting groups come to the home and support her academically and materials for education. (mother, girl)

I think it would be good if one of the teachers visit and guide our children at home on their learning. (father, boy)

It is important to assign a home visit teacher and follow-up learners at home. (special school)

Some teachers found that both conducting research and establishing dialogue helped solicit solutions from different stakeholder groups and aid in identifying what could be done differently if schools were to close again:

Conducting research and identifying best ways to reach students in times like COVID-19. (Teacher)

I think it needs discussion at the school and district level on the way forward. (Teacher)

Finally, a few caregivers expressed a strong need for financially assisting families during times of crisis:

Supporting poor families by giving money, provision of food items and other related things. (grandmother, female)

Discussion

COVID-19 has unleashed a whole spectrum of new challenges to systems that were already struggling with inequities in opportunities and outcomes before the pandemic (United Nations 2019). UNESCO (2020) estimates that 24 million learners, mainly students at risk, will drop out of school in the world as a result of pandemic closures. Students living in poverty and students with disabilities are likely to be overrepresented in this group. Although more recent studies provide increased evidence of this, the findings from our study suggest that children with disabilities in Ethiopia are returning to school. However, as evident in this study, they also return to school saddled with significant disadvantages because of lost formal learning opportunities, neglected socio-emotional needs, and the burden of multiple personal challenges faced during school closures. As the education system in Ethiopia re-opens its doors for all learners, including those with disabilities, there are several lessons that can be drawn from this study.

Children with disabilities should be an integral part of educational reform efforts

Over the last few years, the Ethiopian government has been making significant efforts to include children with disabilities in mainstream schools (Hoddinot et al. 2020). It has been committed to tackling issues of inequity and low quality of education through systemic reform efforts under the GEQIP-E. Here a focus on children with disabilities has been central to the government’s vision, even though these efforts have had mixed success. Now as we emerge from the impact of the pandemic and prolonged school closures, growing evidence makes it even more pressing to focus on the need of children with disabilities. Tiruneh et al. (2021) based on data collected from over 7,500 children in Ethiopia who returned to school after more than 7 months of school closures, found that there had been an increase in the prevalence of reported disabilities (as identified through using the Washington Child functioning Module) among children in grades 1 and 4. Additionally, children who were reported as having any degree of difficulty (mild, moderate or severe) were reported as having relatively higher learning loss when assessed using basic numeracy test.

Thus, as the educational reform agenda in Ethiopia becomes even more crucial, results from our study suggest that ‘mainstreaming’ disability in systemic educational efforts can have considerable positive results. For example, our data shows that teachers were more likely to contact caregivers of children with disabilities when directed by Woreda officials.

In addition, our study found that itinerant teachers working in IERCs attached to mainstream schools who had a clear responsibility for the learning of children with disabilities, were more active in their engagement with caregivers of children with disabilities. IERCs, where itinerant teachers are based, have been found to have a positive impact on increasing enrolment of children with disabilities and in supporting mainstream teachers and students with disabilities (Šiška et al. 2020). However, these authors, and others such as Graham (2015), note that sustainability of these reform efforts will be brought into question given the increasing demands on the few itinerant teachers who are now servicing even more schools and students with disabilities. Thus, the sustainability of educational reform efforts needs to be underpinned by a strong commitment to adequate resourcing.

As schools were re-opening, official directives made it clear that the return to school for children with disabilities was as important as for all other children. While this was a strong policy directive, parental responses in our sample also highlighted how keen and committed they were to be sending their child with disabilities back to school. Only four caregivers reported that they had held their child back due to fear of a lack of hygiene and COVID safety. Caregivers clearly noted that they wanted their child with disabilities to return to their routines and learning, and many caregivers were even preparing their child by adopting different strategies, such as re-familiarizing their child with their curriculum etc. This focus on parental desire to educate their child with disabilities resonates with more recent findings from other southern contexts (Singal et al. 2021a, 2021b; Singal 2016).

Prioritising the availability of appropriate and accessible learning materials

In the wider discussion on quality of schooling, there is a tendency to overlook the necessity of accessible learning materials for children with disabilities. Respondents in this study, both teachers and caregivers, highlighted that the lack of learning materials was the biggest barrier to the learning opportunities for children with disabilities. Inequity in resources was not limited only to Southern contexts, but also evident in the work of Bayrakdar and Guveli (2020) who noted that poorer children in England spend less time learning at home during school closures, a finding also present in our sample. In addition to a lack of resources at the child’s home, teachers in our sample, also note that they themselves did not have the resources to support distance learning. This is similar to findings from other studies focusing on Ethiopian teachers during COVID-19 related school closures. Yorke et al. (2021a) identified that teachers had little or no access to technical equipment (such as computers) and a considerable lack of experience in delivering on-line courses.

While in some countries, including Ethiopia, national level programmes such as radio and television broadcasting of learning materials were introduced, these do not address existing inequities in resources among families as accessing technology would require resources. Additionally, in the case of children with disabilities, simply broadcasting materials is not enough unless there is additional support for alternative ways of communication, such as incorporating sign languaging when broadcasting lessons.

Hossain (2021) argues that in the absence of both support from teachers and little formal learning opportunities at home, the learning achievement gap may widen at an ever-increasing pace in low-income countries among certain groups of learners. Although Hossain’s (ibid) analysis does not disaggregate data for disability, he points out the disproportionate impact due to income and gender. This finding also resonates with Jones et al. (2022, 2), who concluded that ‘[r]ural adolescent girls and adolescents with disabilities were less likely to access distance education during school closures due to connectivity challenges and discriminatory norms and to subsequently enrol’. This is also noted by Tiruneh et al. (2021) in their analysis as mentioned earlier.

While caregivers and teachers in our sample were positive about the potential of technology, much more than those observed among stakeholder narratives in Nepal or Malawi (Singal et al. 2021a, 2021b), what is clear is that greater investment is needed to ensure that the technological innovations that are rolled out are accessible, mindful of contextual realities and sustainable. For example, Yorke et al. (2021a) based on data collected from 127 school principals and 316 teachers across Ethiopia noted that while the majority had access to electricity, phone, TV and a radio, few had access to computers and tablets, and very few had access to internet. Rather pertinently a significant rural and urban divide was also prevalent.

As Lynch, Singal, and Francis (2022) note, although educational technology clearly holds potential, it does not necessarily mean high-tech solutions, rather simple and adaptable approaches can also provide ample opportunities for learners with disabilities. Based on the review of current literature on educational technologies in low- and middle-income contexts, they conclude that teacher development programmes need to incorporate high-quality competency skill training to improve digital literacy and skills to effectively engage with remote delivery modes. This also means that there is a need to increase the availability of low-tech gadgets for students as well as building the appropriate infrastructure to support the use of educational technologies in schools.

Recognizing schools as important spaces for nurturing socio-emotional well-being

The pandemic and extended school closures have made explicit what are often seen as secondary benefits of schooling, such as friendships and children’s emotional well-being. Caregivers in our sample reported boredom, sadness, loneliness, isolation, diminished interest in learning and playing, and other changes in their child’s behaviour. Prolonged and abrupt school closures also resulted in disrupted routines, which were unsettling for many children with disabilities. This was evident not only in our findings in Ethiopia, but also in perceptions of teachers in Sri Lanka (Wijesinghe 2020) working with deaf children who lamented on issues of loneliness and heightened anxiety. Schools must be recognised for the significant impact they have on the social and emotional well-being of children. These benefits must not be merely incidental; further efforts need to be directed toward teacher training so that head teachers and auxiliary staff more actively promote positive well-being through everyday classroom and school practices.

Additionally, for children with disabilities, schools offer a vital link to essential support services such as access to speech and language therapy and physiotherapy. As these services are essential in nurturing a holistic development of a child with disabilities, they should be prioritised in school and health planning. As children return to school, increased recognition of these socio-emotional needs is crucial. This is also reaffirmed in a report by the International Commission on the Futures of Education (ICFE 2020, 4), which highlights the significant repercussions on the mental health and well-being of children because of the pandemic. The insecurities and uncertainties arising from the pandemic have catapulted to the forefront the need to rebuild trust and increased engagement in educational institutions among caregivers and children.

Finally, many teachers mentioned the need for a more ‘collaborative’ approach between home and school to ensure that children could be supported by their caregivers if there were any future lockdowns. As we move forward, schools need to find simple strategies to involve caregivers and actively support them in their child’s learning. This needs to be done keeping in mind the many demands (e.g. on income generation) already placed on caregivers, especially those in low-income households. There is a need to focus on finding inclusive strategies of fostering partnerships between home and school.

As the Ethiopian education system recovers from the COVID-19 crisis, reflecting on the lessons learnt reaffirm the need for ensuring that efforts to include children with disabilities must be central in wider educational reform agendas. There is a need to critically reflect upon and act collectively in ensuring that children with disabilities are not left behind.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

WISE, Qatar Foundation.