Disability and inclusion in South African higher education An Ubuntu philosophical perspective.

Abstract

Inclusion of students with disabilities is still a challenge in South African universities despite the far-reaching Bill of Rights in the Constitution of South Africa aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination and inequality, including those based on disability (South Africa, 1996). This gives students with disabilities the right to access higher education institutions. However, up to 2018, there was no specific disability policy in higher education. This meant most universities struggled to address disability issues (Mutanga, 2020). The promulgation of the Strategic Policy Framework on Disability for the Post School Education and Training System (DHET, 2018) is meant to give government support and guidance to higher education institutions to implement changes and provide services that make it possible for students with disabilities to flourish in higher education. However, there are short comings in the implementation of the policy in universities, and students with disabilities cannot be said to be fully included in higher education (Mutanga, 2020). University administrators fail to implement the necessary interven tions because of their lack of commitment, the confusion arising from con flicting policies that make it difficult to define who should be taking certain responsibilities, and certain structural barriers to inclusivity. The theories and models that guide or determine programmes and interventions on address ing disability are predominantly Western. They appear to have limitations in articulating the contextual factors affecting students with disabilities in universities. This chapter explores the implementation of some programmes and interventions aimed to address disability in higher education institutions in the interest of identifying alternative approaches that could better inform interventions. The first section gives the context of the study followed by the problem statement, the methodology that was adopted in the study and the Ubuntu philosophical values. The discussion of the findings focuses on disability and intersectional disadvantage, disability and the Ubuntu philosophy. Finally, a conclusion and recommendations are presented.