Effects of Teachers’ Pedagogical Competencies on Achievement of Learners with Special Needs in day Secondary Schools in Rwanda: A Case of Kirehe District

The main purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of teachers’ pedagogical competencies on achievement of learners with special needs in day secondary schools in Rwanda specifically in Kirehe District. This research was supported by Social Constructivism Theory and Universal Design for learning. The study employed descriptive and correlation research designs. The researcher used 935participantsas target population comprises of 877 Teachers and 58 Head teachers and281 respondents was selected and the sample size of the whole population was 281 including 17headteachers and 264 teachers. Objective one indicated that The majority of teachers (90.5%) reported being confident or very confident in their ability to teach learners with special needs, likely due to professional training or experience. However, a small percentage (4.2%) indicated a lack of confidence, highlighting the need for further support or training in inclusive teaching practices. Findings on objective two indicated that Approximately 61.7% of respondents engage frequently or very frequently in these activities, demonstrating a strong commitment to improving their skills. However, 19.4% of respondents participate less consistently, with some engaging rarely or never. the majority of respondents (83.3%) feel that their special needs education training has adequately prepared them to teach learners with special needs, with 34.8% strongly agreeing and 48.5% agreeing. Findings on objective three also indicated that the Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.921 strongly indicates that as teachers' pedagogical competencies increase, so does the academic performance of these learners. The statistical significance of this correlation (with a p-value of 0.000) suggests that this relationship is not due to chance, emphasizing the critical role that well-developed teaching skills play in improving outcomes for students with special needs. The government should introduce and enforce a policy for continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers in special needs education. The government should Establish a robust monitoring and evaluation system to assess the effectiveness of special needs education programs. The Ministry of Education should review and update the curriculum to ensure it incorporates best practices in special needs education.