Abstract:
A good tertiary education is linked to broad socio-economic advantages when students with disabilities enrol in higher education. Their overall academic performance, retention rates, and graduation rates are similar than ever to those of their non-disabled classmates. A student can be considered as having special education needs if he or she is suffering from learning difficulties or a disability and cannot work equally as peers. The broad problem of the study was what are the existing barriers that hinder the educational inclusion of students with disabilities in the higher education sector in Sri Lanka. Hence, the key objective of the research was to identify the barriers that hinder the educational inclusion of students with disabilities through the perceptions of undergraduates about their peers with disabilities. The study is a non-experimental, descriptive, and association design between variables using multivariate statistical techniques using 184 sample units from the Humanities and Social Science Faculty, University of Ruhuna. It was found by exploratory factor analysis that the elements that had the most impact on the situation were accessibility and resources that universities must facilitate inclusion; academic staff’s willingness to meet the needs of students with disabilities; real implementation of the curricular adjustments; and relationships and participation of students with disabilities and peers. The findings of the study suggest that universities should execute targeted programmes to address the knowledge gap about students with disabilities and the operation of care and support services for them.
