ABSTRACT

This study was set out to assess the relevance of inclusive primary education to the needs of learners with mental retardation in selected primary schools of the Eldoret West district of Kenya. The following objectives guided the study; to find out {f the teachers in inclusive primary schools have followed the appropriate procedure to assess the learning disabilities of pupils with mental retardation, to establish if the teachers have adapted their teaching approaches, strategies and techniques to accommodate, to establish if the teachers have also adapted the curriculum materials/ content to cater for the learning needs of the mentally handicapped and to assess the quality of teachers m cm inclusive teaching. Respondents were selected at ramdorn and qualitative since quantitative methods were used to collect data. Findings showed that the prevalence of pupils in inclusive education was very high according to the twenty-one teachers, although SLY. said it was not. It as also highlighted the challenge of teachers being able to identify the characteristics of the MR. without proper identification, it complicates the learning of the MR in inclusive settings. Conclusion and recommendations were also made. Teachers m.ust create environments that facilitate the development of the MMR pupils and which encourage verbal communication. They should provide opportunities for these children to use language to interact with