INCLUSIVITY IN RESPONSE TO DIVERSITY AND EQUAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Abstract

The church has always been inextricably linked to taking care of the most vulnerable and marginalised in society. It is therefore no surprise that the Reformed Church University found its niche area to be inclusivity to promote social justice and to ensure human rights for all. Many African countries still bear and battle with the scars of exclusion and marginalisation on all levels of society caused by our colonial past. However, even within this era of suppression and exploitation it was the church that stepped up to provide education to the poor and marginalised. They were also the first to establish special schools for children with disabilities. The call for Inclusive Education (IE) started from a discourse to justify the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schooling. Nevertheless, the notion of IE has evolved through a few paradigm shifts. Currently IE is viewed from a social justice perspective and education without discrimination as a basic human right. From this perspective, the understanding of inclusion is broadened to include all those who are vulnerable and marginalised by dominant societal culture. The principles of inclusion are not foreign to African cultures of which the philosophy of Ubuntu has always been part of. Ubuntu embraces difference by acknowledging and respecting the humanness of every individual. Currently there is an upsurge of African academic voices that are starting to reclaim the values of Ubuntu that are aligned with the principles of IE. With it comes a strong call for policies and implementation of IE to be contextually responsive to the needs of those included. In the vision of the RCU to become a centre of excellence and to “develop a shared understanding of inclusion to promote inclusive socio-cultural development for

10 sustainable advancement of quality life for all echelons of society” there is opportunity to advance the debate on contextually responsive inclusion through interrogation of prevalent epistemology.