Current Inclusive Education Debates in South Africa and the World Over

Abstract

This chapter highlights the current inclusive education debates in South Africa and the world over. It looks at how human rights, Ubuntu, and social justice could redirect the shortfalls of inclusive education and fight against stigmatisation, exclusion, and marginalisation in inclusive education. Many learners with disabilities are educated in special schools globally, thus excluded from society. Other learners are in inclusive schools, yet they continue to be excluded because the curriculum has not been tailor-made to fit their needs and the teachers are not equipped on how best to help them. This clearly translates into a future society of learners with disabilities who are not skilled, empowered, and unemployable. To successfully implement and embrace inclusive education, it should be underpinned by the values of human rights, Ubuntu, and social justice, which should enable equal access, equity and inclusivity for all learners. These values have a capacity to promote values of co-existence and social cohesion among learners from diverse backgrounds.