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.
