This World Children’s Day, the conversation around inclusion in education deserves a rethink
We often talk about inclusion as if it is synonymous with access: A child in a classroom, a textbook in hand, a desk to sit at. That focus on learners alone, however, misses the mark.
Inclusion in education should not be primarily about learners. It should focus on the adults entrusted to make classrooms, schools and education work. School principals, in particular, are the gatekeepers of that belonging. Their leadership determines whether a learner is visible or lost to the margins.
Consider a learner in a crowded, under-resourced classroom. They might say, “I just want to learn like everyone else.” Simple words, yet they collide daily with a system where school principals are burnt out, teachers are demoralised and resources are often scarce. The tragedy is not just that children inevitably struggle under these circumstances. It is that the adults guiding them are isolated and expected to perform miracles.
The scale of the challenge is overwhelming. Yet, we are not speaking of luxuries, but of the fundamental: Literacy and mathematics proficiency remains abysmally low, while wellbeing, safety and digital access is still lacking. It is unsurprising that inclusion continues to be a hollow aspiration.
The barriers learners face mirrors the strain on the adults leading them: The effectiveness of schools depends on the adults leading them. Research confirms what we witness daily in classrooms. After teacher quality, school leadership is the strongest predictor of learner outcomes. Yet leadership development for school principals, particularly in marginalised communities, is chronically under-supported.
Recognising this, organisations like Citizen Leader Lab focus on capacitating school principals rather than merely band-aiding symptoms. Through its leadership development and support programmes, school principals are empowered, teachers are supported and surrounding communities are mobilised. The result is schools that are not only functional, but transformative spaces where learners can genuinely belong.
As Celumusa Radebe, the principal of Vezamafa Primary School in the Pinetown District of KwaZulu Natal, explains: “It’s not just about managing a school. It’s about leading people: Teachers, learners and parents with purpose.”
In the context of ‘’under-resourced-ness’’, leading with purpose recognises that leadership is the stabilising force that holds everything together. It means seeing beyond paperwork and procedures to the human realities.
This echoes the work of Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire, a founder of critical pedagogy and a global voice for education as a tool for liberation. Freire argued that education is never neutral. As he wrote:
“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present … or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”
In South Africa, this distinction could not be clearer. When school principals are empowered, education becomes a practice of inclusion. When they are unsupported, inclusion becomes a cruel illusion.
Inclusion is ultimately co-created by governments, communities and the adults who lead schools. Policies, infrastructure and resources undoubtedly matter, but only if those in authority have the capacity, confidence and tools to utilise them effectively.
Placing a child in a classroom does not render them included. At the core of it, inclusion is about participation, belonging and opportunity. It is about adults who can transform a system rather than simply manage it. If we want a country that works, if we want a society where every child belongs, we must start at the top.
Only when we empower those adults can we ensure that every child does more than occupy a seat. They are included.
About the author
Zah’Rah Khan heads up the editorial team at Citizen Leader Lab. Her focus areas are education, health, politics and research.
Citizen Leader Lab is a South African non-profit that develops conscious citizen leaders through innovative, cross-sector leadership programmes designed to drive systemic change.