Attitudes of secondary school students toward peers with disabilities in Savar, Bangladesh

One out of two children with disabilities in Bangladesh doesn’t attend school, and the main barriers reported were communication issues and socialization with peers without disabilities. We aimed to find the levels of attitude of secondary school students toward peers with disabilities and their relative factors in a selected area of Bangladesh. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 10-to 18-year-old students without disabilities in two randomly selected secondary inclusive schools in Savar between October and December 2023. The total of 310 students (95.39% of the total 325) enlisted in the verified school record were invited to the survey, and 227 responded to the survey (response rate 73%). Students’ attitudes about peers with disabilities were evaluated through the Bangla-translated Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes towards Children with Handicaps (CATCH) questionnaire, completed by the students in printed format within their school time from Sunday to Thursday between 7.30 AM and 1.30 PM. Ninety-three (41%) male, and 134 (59%) female students responded, 87% had knowledge about disabilities (n = 198), and 43.6% (n = 99) of the participants had peers with disabilities. The overall CATCH score ranged from 52 to 131, representing 36% to 90% of the total score of 144. Students aged 15–18 years had a relationship with CATCH cognitive score, and senior year with attitude scores (P < 0.05). Females were associated with affective scores, and students having working parents were associated with CATCH attitude and cognitive scores (P < 0.05). Knowledge and exposure to disabilities were related to affective and behavioral scores (P < 0.01). CATCH total was predicted sequentially as higher cognitive scores (β 0.83, P < 0.001), behavioral scores (β 0.87, P < 0.001), and affective scores (β 0.70, P < 0.05). This study underscores the importance of inclusive secondary education in shaping positive student attitudes toward peers with disabilities. To translate these findings into practice, we recommend implementing school-based joint sessions involving students, parents, and teachers, regardless of disability status, to promote empathy, awareness, and social integration. While inclusive teaching methods were not given the focus of this study, our results support broader policy efforts aimed at embedding inclusive values into school culture and community engagement.