DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED LEARNERS IN KENYA: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

History informs the present and helps in prediction of the future. This paper examines the historical development of special education for the Visually Impaired (VI) learners in Kenya with key focus on establishment of the institutions offering special education for the VI. The paper presents the strides made and the challenges experienced in the development of this type of education from the time it was introduced in Kenya up to the present. Historical research design was employed in data collection, analysis and interpretation. Data was evaluated through external and internal criticisms. The historical inquiry was done through collection of archival data through archival research, collection of data through interviews and research into secondary materials in libraries. Data collected was analyzed qualitatively through triangulation and deduction of themes. The research findings in the paper provide an overview of the state of education for the visually impaired learners in Kenya. The research findings also reveal the disintegrated efforts in training of the blind before the establishment of the first educational institution for the VI in 1946. The paper presents the developments realized thereafter such as development of other institutions and increased enrolment. The findings thus present the strides, struggles and challenges encountered in terms of access in the process of providing education for the VI learners in Kenya. The study came to the conclusion that provision of education for the VI in Kenya has changed from charity model in 1940s to a human right model at the present.