An inclusive policy within an exclusionary system

Learners with mild disabilities’ exclusion from learning in South African mainstream schools

Abstract

Though there are legal instruments such as the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), African protocol and policies of inclusive education in the Global South at large  and in  African higher education, to ensure that all diverse learners  are included to access   learning together with their able-bodied counterparts in  an inclusive learning environment as the local mainstream schools, learners with mild disabilities continue to be excluded. Using the desktop literature review methodology and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, the paper explored the hidden underlying causes in the system of education, which perpetuate the exclusion of learners with mild disabilities in the mainstream schools. The exploration meant to understand where the hidden underlying cause of exclusion of learners with mild disabilities was located, in the context of mainstream schools in the South African basic education. The findings revealed that it is at the systemic and institutional levels where the underlying causes for exclusion were located. The paper sought to contribute in the way of proffering possible intervention strategies, which can assist learners with mild disabilities’ inclusion so that they can also access education and learning in mainstream schools in the South African basic education and in other African countries with similar mainstream contexts broadly.