Inclusive Education: Challenging Barriers, Claiming Human Rights and Social Justice

Abstract

The chapter examines the challenging barriers to inclusive education despite the general recognition of human rights and social justice. The African Philosophy of Ubuntu with its core values of humaneness, sharing, interdependence, communalism in conjunction with the social justice imperatives of equity, redress and inclusion is a lens to reconfigure inclusion in education. There is growing consensus about the right to education and states have to make resources available for progressive realisation of this right. Some of the learners find themselves remaining excluded from formal education and others drop out of school because of inadequate measures to integrate them to the education system. Exclusion is attributed to failure of school systems to recognise differences in socio-economic background, culture, learning styles including the inability to acknowledge the dignity of all learners. Attitudinal change, language, unavailability of zero-discrimination policies and inconsistencies on what constitutes inclusive education form part of the barriers to inclusive education. Inclusion and equity have to be overarching principles guiding educational policies and practices. Integrating the African Philosophy of Ubuntu as a form of moral consciousness, capable of eradicating exclusion and social injustices is recommended as an appropriate response to inclusive education, as it acknowledges humanness and interdependence of beings.

“Every learner matters and matters equally.”

UNESCO (2017:12).