It is often challenging for youth with disabilities to access university education in Africa, and for those who manage to make it to university, while there, their experiences are still not barrier-free. The purpose of this study was to uncover the experiences of the barriers and facilitators to inclusion for youth with disabilities in universities in South Africa, Ghana and Ethiopia. This qualitative project applied a critical, participatory research approach to exploring youth experiences. Youth with disabilities and their colleagues conducted seven focus group discussions, with an average of five students in each focus group, and we used a qualitative descriptive method to analyze data. The findings uncovered similarities and differences in the barriers and facilitators to inclusive education among students with disabilities across all sites. Participants noted limited financial support and university services, and how inaccessible spaces and harmful attitudes are all barriers that hinder their access to education and inclusion. The identified facilitators include support systems and self-directed facilitation. Although the students self-advocated and reported some support to assist in their inclusion in university, it was still insufficient. Notably, some universities are making a concerted effort toward inclusion and accessibility, but more work needs to be done.

Disabled students have a right to access higher education. Yet, only about one-fifth of youth with disability in South Africa attend and complete tertiary education. The low uptake and throughput are attributed to systemic and structural barriers. The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Vision 2030 is to ‘unleash human potential to create a fair and just society through three pillars of excellence, transformation and sustainability’. To operationalise this vision, the current needs of disabled students have to be seen holistically. This article shares the experiences of inclusion and participation at UCT from the perspectives of disabled students. An exploratory case study research design, informed by an emancipatory disability research paradigm, was used to gain a contextually layered understanding of participants with disability perspectives on campus life. Purposive sampling was used to select 10 participants enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the Faculties of Commerce, Humanities, and Health Sciences. Data were gathered using four focus group discussions of 90 min duration each and thematically analysed. Humanising Praxis was used as a transformative framework to interpret the findings. ‘Fostering inclusion’ was one theme that revealed shifts in mindsets about disability to remove barriers to participation experienced by disabled students. Contribution: To cultivate an attitude of belonging, students’ personal agency must be harnessed, and academics must engage more in disability-inclusive practices that create support systems for both academic and social inclusion.

Youth with disabilities have limited opportunities to participate in education. This study explored barriers and facilitators to educational success experienced by high-school students with disabilities in Ethiopia, Ghana, and South Africa. This participatory research involved youth with disabilities as core members of the research team. Participants were 58 youths with motor, hearing, and visual impairments (25 females and 33 males, aged 16 to 33) who took part in focus group discussions at one of the three sites. The research team analysed transcribed digital audio recordings using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes emerged that reflect the mixed experiences of high-school learners, namely: 1. Psychosocial factors that influence learners’ learning. 2. Classroom factors that influence learners’ learning. 3. Personal agency strategies that learners develop to manage challenges. While the findings highlight some enabling experiences for learners with disabilities, they predominantly illustrate exclusionary practices and restrictions in high-school education for youth with disabilities. Their learning was negatively affected by exclusion from activities, others’ attitudes, inaccessible communication, and limited resources. We emphasise a critical need to address discriminatory practices and attend to factors that can enhance belonging and inclusion of youth with disabilities in education, leading to enhanced opportunities for social participation.