27 May 2025

Inclusive Education in South Africa

By Alison Scott, Executive Principal of Bellavista School

It has been 24 years since the South African government introduced Education White Paper 6 (2001), a policy intended to transform the education system and ensure that learners with disabilities could access mainstream schooling. The plan set a 20-year deadline, envisioning a fully inclusive system by 2021. That deadline has passed - without acknowledgement, without explanation, and without action.

As we approach Youth Day, it’s time to reflect on the reality that, despite legislative commitments, thousands of children with disabilities remain excluded from education. 49 years after the Soweto Uprising, marginalisation still exists - not through legislation, but through inaction.

A 2015 Human Rights Watch report estimated that 600,000 children with disabilities were out of school. Since then, the numbers have remained largely unchanged. In 2021, Stats SA reported that 44% of out-of-school children had been excluded due to disability or perceived poor academic performance. If every school in South Africa had made provision for even a handful of these children, the impact would have been profound. Instead, in many communities, learners with special educational needs remain invisible, overlooked, and denied the fundamental right to education.

South Africa’s legal framework clearly supports inclusive education. The South African Schools Act (1996), Education White Paper 6 (2001), and the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities all reinforce the commitment to ensuring that learners with disabilities have equal opportunities. The National Development Plan and the Five-Year Strategic Plan (2015) further outline steps to make inclusive education a reality. Yet policy alone is not enough. Without clear implementation plans, accountability, or funding, these frameworks exist only on paper. The government has failed to address why the commitments made in White Paper 6 have not materialised. The silence is telling - it speaks to a reality where inclusive education is simply not prioritised.

Internationally, inclusive education has been driven by advocacy and activism. It is parents, educators, and communities that have demanded change. In South Africa, where is that demand? Inclusive education cannot be an abstract concept or a policy reserved for committee discussions. It must be an active movement to ensure that every child, regardless of ability, has access to learning. Schools must be willing to open their doors, teachers must be equipped with the skills to support diverse learners, and communities must actively push for change. The right to education is the foundation of future economic and social inclusion - without it, meaningful participation in society is impossible.

The Employment Equity Amendment Act (2022) has introduced workplace disability quotas, a significant step towards greater inclusivity in the workforce. However, these quotas are meaningless if learners with disabilities are excluded from the education system to begin with. The disconnect between education policy and employment policy underscores the broader issue - there is no long-term vision for inclusion in South Africa. The systemic barriers in schooling are setting up an entire generation for exclusion beyond the classroom.

There are concerns that recent education policy shifts are being driven by cost-cutting rather than inclusion. The table describing the district support teams suggest: one occupational therapist, one educational psychologist and one social worker per 40 000 learners; one senior counsellor and one learning support specialist per district. In terms of other scholastic activities like sport and arts, seven specialists will attend 100 schools. One teacher’s assistant or class aids will be provided for every 50 learners who may have personalised needs. The approach frames disabled learners as numbers to be managed, rather than individuals with the right to quality education. Without meaningful support structures, adequate funding, and teacher training, inclusive education will remain a distant goal rather than a reality.

The question remains - what has been done to ensure that inclusive education is no longer just a policy but a lived reality? White Paper 6 was meant to change the education landscape, but without accountability, it has failed. The deadline has passed, but the work remains undone.

Nelson Mandela once said, "It always seems impossible until it is done." Inclusive education is possible, but it will require more than words. It will take action, advocacy, and the collective will to demand that no child is left behind.