Disability Feature: Manamela calls for disability inclusion in higher education systems

Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has called on African universities to fundamentally rethink inclusion. Speaking at the 3rd Edition of the Times Higher Education(THE) Africa Universities Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, Manamela stressed that disability must betreated as a central design principle rather than an afterthought, noting that current participationrates highlight the scale of exclusion across the sector.To illustrate the problem, the Minister pointed to recent data from South Africa, where studentsliving with disabilities accounted for just 1.3% of public university enrolments in 2023, androughly 1% across the broader post-school education and training system. “These are notfigures of inclusion at scale. They are signs of how much work remains to be done,” Manamelasaid.He further argued that meaningful inclusion requires systemic change that extends far beyondinitial admissions. The problem lies heavily within institutional infrastructure and how universitiesare operated, meaning true progress will require restructuring the very way these institutions arebuilt and run.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.