Abstract
This study investigated the relationships between parental education, knowledge, perception and attitudes towards inclusive education for children with intellectual disabilities. A cross-sectional research design was adopted. The sample comprised 96 parents of children with intellectual disability {males: 55 (57.3%); females: 41 (42.7%)}. To facilitate demographic analysis, participants were stratified by age into four categories: those younger than 25 years (n = 20; 20.8%), 25–34 years (n = 24; 25.0%), 35–44 years (n = 28; 29.2%), and 45 years and above (n = 24; 25.0%). A structured questionnaire divided into four sections (demographic characteristics of respondents, parental knowledge, perception and attitudes) was used for data collection. The data collected were analysed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance to assess the main and interaction effects. Tests of between-subject effects indicated a significant interaction between age and gender, F (3, 88) = 5.67, p < 0.01, revealing that older female parents (M = 4.10) had higher knowledge scores than older male parents (M = 3.60). Results indicate that age and gender influence parental knowledge and perceptions of inclusive education. Based on the study's findings, it is recommended that a targeted educational programme on inclusive education be developed with the aim of enhancing their knowledge and perceptions while addressing the identified disparities in understanding inclusive education.