International Journal of Innovative Research and Scientific Studies

Factors facilitating inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities in extracurricular activities in school: Saudi teachers’ views

Hani Ali Saeed Al-Amri — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Extracurricular activities play a pivotal role in the academic development of children and quality of life, including students with intellectual disabilities. However, the participation of disabled children in extracurricular activities has been mostly restricted. This study aims to investigate understand the various contextual factors such as institutional support, interpersonal and family factors, and student readiness related factors impacting meaningful participation of students with intellectual disabilities from the perspectives of the teachers from Saudi Arabia. Along with this, the role of teachers’ attitude and teachers’ efficacy in this framework was also be evaluated through this study. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design following a positivistic research philosophy was employed and a questionnaire was developed. This questionnaire was sent to 320 randomly selected educators from various regions of Saudi Arabia. The obtained data was analyzed using partial least squares structural modelling to test the developed hypotheses. The direct effect of institutional support, parental and peer support, and student related intrinsic factors on meaningful participation of disabled students was statistically significant. Moreover, teachers’ attitude was found to positively mediate the above relationships. Further, teachers’ efficacy was observed to moderate the effect of teachers’ attitude towards inclusion on meaningful participation. The findings of the study showed there is an interconnection between systemic, relational, individual, and teacher level factors. All these factors tend to facilitate the students to participate in extracurricular activities as a part of inclusive education. This study promotes holistic inclusive education for intellectually disabled children, which can be attained through supportive institutional infrastructure, better interpersonal and family dynamics and better understanding of intrinsic student factors.

Wind energy potential assessment, estimation, and modelling in the Vhembe district, Limpopo Province

Clement Matasane, Mohamed Tariq Kahn — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0500

This study addresses the global challenge of assessing renewable wind resources by evaluating wind energy potential, spatial availability, and localised applications—such as household electricity, irrigation, and small-scale community projects—within South Africa's Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. The research integrates meteorological data from local weather stations with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques. This approach maps spatial wind distribution while accounting for environmental constraints, weather conditions, and regional land suitability. The empirical results reveal highly variable wind energy prospects across the Vhembe District and broader Limpopo locations. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the efficacy of the Conceptual Framework for Identification of the Rural Energy Deployment Application Tool in optimising site selection. Utilising integrated GIS and RS methodologies provides a robust framework for identifying viable inland wind resources, confirming that Vhembe possesses strategic pockets capable of supporting decentralised rural energy projects. These findings provide community leaders and regional decision-makers with a data-driven tool to successfully plan, implement, and accelerate sustainable wind energy deployment in remote rural areas.

WASH financing barriers in the global south a systematic review of trends, system bottlenecks and ways forward for Nepal

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0500

Despite commitments under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) progress seems slow in most countries where financing has surfaced up as a critical bottleneck. This systematic review incorporates current evidence on WASH financing gaps, barriers and potential solutions adopting a structured systematic review approach informed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework for identifying, screening and synthesizing relevant literature.Global estimates suggest that WASH capital investment is more than three times the current investment and the bottlenecks are multidimensional, key barriers including ineffective governance mechanism and institutional fragmentation, limited fiscal space, low creditworthiness of service providers, inadequate cost recovery and data gaps. Evidence across the reviewed literature consistently identifies strengthening public finance, improving utility operators and their performance, achieving optimal balance between tariffs, taxes and transfers and other innovative financing mechanisms results improved financial effectiveness. The paper concludes, a coherent combination of system strengthening and innovative financing mechanisms is required as a single financing instrument is not sufficient to close the gap. For Nepal, the findings suggest that WASH financing bottlenecks should be analyzed across the WASH system on how financing is planned, allocated and executed.