Authors : James Onole Okhakhu

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 10 - October

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/4maa2e95

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26Oct004

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : Although Nigeria's Prohibition of the Discrimination against persons with Disabilities Act (2018) requires accessible school infrastructure, a substantial gap often lies between legal pronouncements and physical implementation especially in the private school sector. This research explored how physical infrastructure acts to enable or impede the educational inclusion of learners with Cerebral Palsy (CP) in a purposively sampled private international school in Ibadan, Nigeria. Utilizing a pragmatic mixed methods case study research design, data was collected using a closed Likert-scale questionnaire to parents (n=12) of learners with CP and semi-structured interviews with school personnel (n=10) including administrators, teachers and other support staff. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse quantitative data whereas reflexivity themes guided analysis of qualitative data. The research revealed a mean parental rating of accessibility to be 3.27 on a scale of 5.00, concealing a polarized infrastructure that juxtaposes fairly compliant new building sections with exclusionary older structures. The infrastructure domain rated least favourably included access facilities and handrails (Mean=3.00) and the accessibility of sanitation facilities (Mean=3.08). Major themes generated from the qualitative data analysis include the prevalence of architectural barriers in terms ofvertical access, the organizational propensity for reliance on human assistance (‘the helper’ syndrome), disjunctures between stated policies and actual practices and the Emotional Labour that staff incur. We theorise these trends to represent 'Reactive Inclusion'- a condition where excellent interpersonal support serves to mask and, in effect, 'stand-in' for the failure of physical infrastructure. Our results suggest policy implications for school leaders, policy makers and architectural professionals aimed at fostering genuine inclusion of learners with physical disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords : Inclusive Education, Cerebral Palsy, School Infrastructure, Accessibility, Nigeria, Universal Design for Learning, Social Model of Disability.

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