**6. Access to education, challenges and opportunities experienced by ECE learners with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic**

Before the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Uganda in March 2020, a new school term for learners at all levels had just begun. In order to prevent the spread of the COVID 19 infection, the Government of Uganda decided to close all education institutions including those for early childhood learning. The closure of education institutions locked about 15 million Ugandan learners at home for a period of 2 years including young learners aged 1–8 years with disabilities. This was one of the longest lockdown of educational institutions globally. With the emergence of the pandemic, access to education for early childhood education (1–8 years) learners with disabilities faced a number of challenges but also some opportunities were experienced.

First of all, the closure of schools led school leaders to shift from physical contact with learners to online-based mode of instruction [29]. This necessitated use of technologies and digital platforms to deliver distance teaching and learning including computers, radios, and television sets to learners and distribution of printed materials to learners in their communities.

Although this development of technologies that could be used for distance learning was a very good innovation to keep learners engaged during the COVID-19 lockdown, it also created challenges to learners with disabilities. For example, the government of Uganda introduced long-distance teaching through the media, especially radio and television. These methods of teaching are not appropriate for young learners with disabilities especially those who are deaf and those who have visual impairments [30–32]. It is obvious that those with hearing impairments or visual impairments will not hear what is being taught on radio and television and will not see what is being taught on television respectively. Therefore, such platforms only benefited learners without disabilities.

Transitioning to a virtual setting required many educators to learn new technologies and skills and caused stress among both teachers and students [33]. However, both the teachers and learners were not given sufficient time to learn the new methods. In addition to moving to online learning platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic, special educators were faced with multiple challenges ranging from equity issues for learners, providing instruction in a virtual environment, and providing special education services as determined by the learner's individual education plan. On equity, we know that the majority of the early childhood learners with disabilities in the Uganda and similar LMICs come from very poor families [34] and who therefore could not afford paying for online classes or teaching did not have televisions or radio sets in their households to access the content. There were attempts by governments to provide radio and television sets to rural communities; however, these were overtaken by other competing national priorities during the crisis.

Since these online and other distance learning technologies have been developed, education providers and the government must use this opportunity to continue developing these technologies to ensure that they remain prepared for other epidemics/and pandemics that may lead to school closure in future. This should also create an opportunity, for training and to continue delivering special education services for students with disabilities.

At a more global level, the UN guidelines for COVID-19 response recommended mainstreaming of disabilities in the planning and provision of any support and services [35–38]. UNICEF provided guidance for staff and partners on supporting the learning of children in areas of school closures, which included making learning accessible to children with disabilities [39]. These also included provision of learning devices/equipment and connectivity, accessibility of instruction, individualized education plans, caregiver involvement, and the Build Back Better strategy among others. However, in many African countries, people with disabilities were neither involved in the development nor provided for during the implementation of COVID-19 response interventions [25], and as explained above, implementation of inclusive education policies was crippled by several systems' challenges that were present before the pandemic.

### **7. How can access to quality and equitable learning for ECE learners with disabilities during the crisis be improved?**

Several strategies have been proposed to support education of learners with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries, and this merits consideration by all stakeholders involved in education. General recommendations addressing *Perspective Chapter: Pedagogical Approaches and Access to Education among Early Childhood… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104921*

pre-COVID-19 challenges are re-emphasized since these challenges have not gone away; they have actually become aggravated. At the global level, the Inclusive Education Initiative recommends first, strengthening teachers' capacity (through training) and motivation to manage children with diverse needs and imparting into them the humane aspect for these children; secondly, constantly involving families in the initiatives that support inclusion since families play a critical role in leading and influencing communities and schools to embrace these innovations as well as making the voices of learners and generally PWD be heard at the local level; thirdly, executing inclusion as early as the planning stage of any initiative and at all subsequent stages and reflecting upon key aspects including curriculum, class sizes, teaching, and learning materials during the design and implementation; fourthly, to ensure that the innovations for inclusive education developed for LMICs are based on locally generated evidence and therefore which address local challenges to policy and practice [40].

The UN and UNICEF have provided guidelines to ensure access to education and other services for people with disabilities. In particular, the UNICEF's Build Back Better guideline is based on the fact that many vulnerable children may not have been accessing quality and inclusive learning opportunities pre-COVID-19, and therefore, resumption of schooling presents an opportunity to "build back better" and capitalize on the strategies and resources being put in place during this crisis to increase access and improve learning opportunities for all children. "This includes ensuring that learning spaces are accessible to those experiencing physical disabilities, that all children – in particular girls- can access school safely, that there are gender-segregated latrines to encourage girls' attendance, that schools are equipped for children experiencing learning impairments, that teachers are prepared to teach students of all abilities, and that communities and caregivers/parents are actively engaged and participate in the local education system and are well-informed of how to support their children" [39].

At the country level, several other strategies have been proposed. In Malawi, for example [41], parents proposed that there was need to prioritize continued learning for children with disabilities and for governments to make educational programs accessible for children with disabilities and actually provide the necessary equipment (e.g. TV, radio, parent training) for these children to access the learning. Intermittent physical access to school facilities, e.g., twice a week and permitting children to take scholastic materials home (e.g., books in Braille) as well as regular follow-up and support on home learning by teachers were also proposed by parents.

Providing parents of children with disabilities with the basic skills such a sign language and Braille to enable them to fully support their children's learning at home, as well as financial support (loans) to enable them provide basic needs for their children was proposed. Furthermore, the need to invest in educational digital technological innovations for children with disabilities and developing teacher, parent, and learners' capacity to use them as well as provide the necessary equipment, e.g., phones and computers to the teachers and learners was highlighted [41].

In summary, access and utilization of education services for children with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been difficult resulting in an escalation of the preexisting challenges and increasing the demands at the family, teacher, and policy levels, for which different stakeholders were not prepared. Concerted support and commitment through the several recommendations including policy improvements, and teacher, student, and learner-centered interventions, and further evidence generation could provide practical solutions to providing inclusive education services during and after the crisis to enable children with disabilities achieve their educational goals.
