Human right to inclusive education : exploring a double discourse of inclusive education using South Africa as a case study

Abstract

Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a human rights milestone in the recognition of the right of disabled learners to inclusive education. This article explores domestic commitment towards the obligation of the State to provide inclusive education under Article 24 of the Convention. It uses South Africa as a case study. More specifi cally, the article uses the decision of the Western Cape High Court in Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability v Government of the Republic of South Africa and Another as a pivot for discussion. The case of Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability demonstrates State ambivalence towards inclusive education. More generally, the article highlights the persistent dangers of an embedded double discourse of inclusive education that perpetuates the historical exclusion of disabled learners through State rhetoric and praxis that are outwardly committed to inclusive education, but are inwardly exclusionary.