Determinants of Low Transition Rate of Learners with Intellectual and Developmental Disability in Selected Special Units in Kajiado County

Several studies done in Kenya reveal that most of the learners with mild and moderate intellectual challenges in special schools and special units remain in school for a longer duration than necessary. They neither join vocational institutions for further learning nor get integrated back to the community for basic independent living. Remaining in school for a prolonged duration while their peers progress academically, may have a social and psychological impact on the IDD learners in the special units/schools. This study explored factors leading to low transition rate of learners with Intellectually and Developmentally Disabilities (IDD). A mixed method approach, convergent parallel design was used to collect and analyze the data. Simple random sampling was done to select the 10 special units in Kajiado County. Purposive sampling was done to select learners with IDD who have been in the special units for a period of 7 years and above and their parents/caregivers. The learners were 85 and their parents/caretakers 85. All the 26 teachers in the selected special units participated in the study. The target population was 343 while the sample size was 196 respondents. Tools for collecting data were, questionnaires, focus group discussion guide and observation schedule. Teachers filled in the questionnaires; parents/caretakers participated in the focus group discussion while the observation guide was used for the learners as they worked. Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics while qualitative date was analyzed through NVivo software version 12. School records from special units in Kajiado show IDD learners who have been in the same class for a period of over 10 years (MoE Kajiado, 2021) while their peers in the mainstream schools transition every academic year to the next level. The study findings further revealed that low rate of transition is caused by a number of factors, among them, lack of prevocational skills, lack of certificates, unavailability of accessible polytechnics, and inadequate learning resources.