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Inclusion in Education Policy as an Enabler: Lessons from South Africa

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Inclusion in Southern African Education

Part of the book series: Sustainable Development Goals Series ((SDGS))

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Abstract

This chapter sought to document the understanding of inclusive education policy as an enabler for access to quality education that is recognised as a fundamental human right, as essential for reducing poverty, inequality as well as achieving other development goals. The right of children to have access to inclusive education is widely supported in international human rights law, international conventions ratified by its members and the majority of human rights instruments. To understanding the significance of access to quality education for all, a search strategy for data included relevant systematic search of databases using specific keywords. The articles and other relevant material were reviewed, and thirty-two studies were identified in the review and to be included, a text had to apply one or more of the selected Inclusive Education words and phrases. The findings indicate that most children with disabilities in South Africa are still not taught in classrooms together with their typically developing peers. However, the inclusion of learners with disabilities into mainstream classrooms, and more generally, the inclusion of people with disabilities into society, is currently conceptualised as a human rights issue and enabler for access to quality education. This study, therefore, concludes and recommends that the importance of access and placement in inclusive education has received too much attention, at the expense of developing pedagogical quality. Therefore, to be able to realize inclusive education we have to further develop teachers’ competencies. This has to be done systematically and must be empirically documented. It is be crucial to reveal the challenges involved in inclusive education and to develop ways in which teachers can resolve them.

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  1. University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Lloyd Daniel N Tlale

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  1. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Dipane Hlalele

  2. Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Tsediso Michael Makoelle

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Tlale, L.D.N. (2023). Inclusion in Education Policy as an Enabler: Lessons from South Africa. In: Hlalele, D., Makoelle, T.M. (eds) Inclusion in Southern African Education. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43752-6_11

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