Barriers and opportunities in the use of assistive technologies for the inclusion of children living with disabilities in primary education in Zimbabwe: study of St Giles in Harare

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated the barriers and opportunities in the use of assistive technologies (AT) for the inclusion of children living with disabilities in primary education in Zimbabwe, with specific focus on St Giles Special School in Harare, revealing that despite progressive policy frameworks including Zimbabwe’s Constitution Section 83, the CRPD ratification (2013), and the newly launched National Assistive Technology Strategy (2024), a significant gap persists between policy aspirations and the lived reality for children with disabilities accessing AT in educational settings. Guided by three objectives to identify the types of AT currently available, explore barriers to AT use, and investigate opportunities for promoting inclusion and grounded in the Social Disability Model (Oliver, 1983), the study adopted a qualitative multiple case study design, collecting data through semi-structured interviews with 5 special needs teachers and 5 parents/caregivers, focus group discussions with 7 children with disabilities, and key informant interviews with 6 professionals, yielding a total sample of 25 participants purposively selected from St Giles Special School, with thematic analysis employed for data analysis. The findings revealed severe inadequacies in AT availability: mobility devices met only 40% of need (15 wheelchairs for over 60 children), communication devices met less than 10% of need, and digital learning tools were completely absent. Five interconnected categories of barriers were identified financial constraints, technological barriers, systemic barriers, social barriers, and knowledge gaps which profoundly restricted children’s participation in reading, writing, classroom interactions, play-based learning, educational progression, and self-care activities, with the social worker highlighting a safeguarding crisis where children unable to communicate effectively cannot report abuse or express pain. Despite these challenges, multiple practical opportunities emerged, including low-cost locally produced solutions, training as a viable investment, mobile-based accessibility features on parents’ own Android phones, and decentralization of service delivery to district-level hubs, with participants identifying six key strategies: establishing a national essential AT list for primary education, mandating AT modules in pre-service teacher training, decentralizing AT assessment and repair hubs, creating public-private partnerships, implementing an “AT Passport” for transitioning students, and community conscientization. The study concluded that barriers to AT use at St Giles are not merely resource constraints but systematic failures of policy coordination, training infrastructure, service geography, and community attitudes, and advanced recommendations for government, St Giles practitioners, and NGOs. Implications for policy include shifting from device donation to systems building, establishing inter-ministerial coordination, and integrating AT into curriculum, while implications for social work practice emphasize advocacy, psychosocial support, safeguarding protocols, and community conscientization. This study contributes to the scarce body of literature on AT and inclusive education in Zimbabwe and Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrating that while opportunities are genuine and within reach, political will is required to reorganize existing resources, mandate training, decentralize services, and conscientize communities, because without these changes, children with disabilities will continue to be excluded from meaningful educational participation.