On Sunday, 3 December, we marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the world “to work side-by-side with persons with disabilities to design and deliver solutions based on equal rights in every country and community”.

It is a timely moment, then, to unpack how young children with disabilities in South Africa continue to be marginalised, discriminated against and excluded from early childhood development (ECD) services — and what we can do to ensure they are let in.

The Equal Education Law Centre’s new report does just that. Drawing on interviews with parents and ECD practitioners, we argue that the vulnerable position of young children with disabilities makes access to inclusive ECD services all the more important. Early identification of barriers to learning and development, combined with appropriate support and interventions, allow children with disabilities an equitable opportunity to realise their full potential. As one anonymous ECD practitioner who participated in the research put it:

“Inclusion means actual inclusion. If an ECD centre has one child with Down’s Syndrome who is left to sit in the corner, that’s not inclusion. For us, it means all the children doing the same activities, together. When we are planning activities, this is always a central consideration. ‘How will each child do this?’ It’s a question that is always in our minds.”

Yet, most children with disabilities continue to be shut out of much-needed ECD services. The Department of Basic Education’s ECD Baseline Assessment 2022 did not include accurate data on this, because of a lack of fieldworker expertise and because the ECD principals involved in the assessment were not capacitated to identify disabilities or developmental delays.

This is telling in and of itself. Still, the estimates provided were extremely low. The UN says that one in 10 children has a disability. However, just 0.2% of children in ECD programmes in South Africa were identified as having difficulty walking; 0.6% were identified as having difficulty holding a crayon; 0.6% were identified as having difficulty communicating; and 0.9% were identified as having difficulty learning.

Our interviews corroborate this bleak picture. Parents of young children with disabilities expressed frustration and despair at the difficulty they face in finding ECD centres that will include their children. Where centres are willing to admit children with disabilities, they are often ill-equipped to offer tailored interventions and support.

And the struggle is not limited to early learning opportunities. Parents also struggle to access health services for their children, waiting years for a diagnosis. This makes it very difficult to plan appropriate interventions, with serious repercussions for children’s futures. One parent told us:

“It hasn’t been an easy journey as a parent. When it comes to accessing government services there are long delays. The hearing test was over a year ago, we are still waiting for the speech assessment. I still don’t know exactly what is wrong with my child, so I don’t know what comes next. Without a diagnosis, I don’t know where he should go.”

The benefits of inclusive ECD centres are undeniable — not only for children with disabilities, but for all children. One parent who sent her able-bodied child to an inclusive ECD centre described the overwhelmingly positive impact it had on him:

“To bring my child into this environment was so needed. Especially in the world we’re living in now. I wanted my little boy to see what it is like and feel what it is to be in a wheelchair, and for someone to be included, even though you’re not verbal, even if you can’t talk, even if you can’t walk. The difference in my son is huge. The teacher at his new school said he is a very special boy. She said that if we can only get boys like him in this world, the world would be a different place.”

It is not just that inclusive ECD services are beneficial. Young children have rights to access such services as a matter of constitutional and international law. How, then, can we translate these rights into lived realities?

A good start would be to reform our key legislation so that it is inclusive. It is striking that the Children’s Act does not even define key concepts such as “disability” or “inclusion”. Nor does it include a state duty to provide or fund inclusive ECD programmes. This must change. 

Importantly, the ECD subsidy — currently just R17 per eligible child per day — must be increased to include additional amounts for children with disabilities. This must be mandated in the legislation. Alternatively, or in addition, ECD centres should be able to access other forms of financial support from the government to ensure young children with disabilities are reasonably accommodated in their centres.

Further, the inclusive laws and policies that do exist need to be properly implemented. For example, the National Curriculum Framework for Children: Birth to Four Years offers valuable guidance to ECD practitioners on identifying developmental delays and including children with disabilities in early learning activities. However, practitioners do not receive in-depth, practical training on how to do this and, as a result, the guidance remains nothing more than words on paper.

All young children deserve the best start in life. Access to truly inclusive ECD services enables young children with disabilities to develop critical skills, laying the foundation for the rest of their lives. As one parent stated:

“My main wish for my child is for her to live as independently as her abilities will allow. I want her to have access to the same opportunities as other kids. I want others who see my daughter to accept her and to understand that maybe there are some things she can do that their children can’t. I want there to be no difference between your child and mine.”

Surely, this mom deserves to see her wish for her child come true. DM

Tatiana Kazim is a legal researcher at the Equal Education Law Centre. Robyn Beere is the deputy director of the Equal Education Law Centre.