“In regular schools, you are made fun of. People are cruel. They forget to welcome you. You are an inconvenience. This is a quote from Lane Wahl, a visually impaired student from South Africa. Children with disabilities are legally allowed to attend a “normal” school. In reality, very few do due to the lack of accommodations and the school's inability to recognize them as "normal" students. The next option for these students is to attend a school specifically designed for students with disabilities. Although this seems like the perfect solution, there are not enough special education schools to accommodate the number of students. Parents and students with disabilities in South Africa continually struggle to access not just high-quality education, but any education. Education is a constitutional right, but it is treated as a privilege. The lack of access to education for people with disabilities has lasting consequences for thousands of students with disabilities across South Africa. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThere are more than five hundred thousand children in South Africa who do not go to school. As expected, all five hundred thousand children are disabled. While there are many factors causing this unacceptable number of unenrolled students, including lack of housing and a lack of qualified teachers, one of the main reasons for this exorbitant number is a lack of government funding. According to the Ministry of Basic Education, only 3% of the national Ministry of Education's budget is spent on special schools. The Tshwaraganang Day Care Center for Persons with Disabilities, in the northwest Ikageng township, serves more than 35 students with disabilities, aged 14 to 26, most of whom have received no formal education. According to Charles Molutsi, principal of the school, the lack of funds made it difficult to meet the educational needs of the students. According to Molutsi, "the children's contributions are not enough to cover rent, food and cleaning materials." He also added that the school's main source of income was the money it received from students' monthly tuition fees. According to Barnett, lack of access to preschool education predicts poor academic performance. Not only does the lack of government funding affect school quality, it also affects the cost of attending school. The majority of students in South Africa exercise their constitutional right to free education. But students with disabilities face barriers to accessing their free education. Students with disabilities should be guaranteed equality in all aspects of their education, including the opportunity to be accommodated in mainstream, free schools. Special schools are not included in the government's list of 'free schools'. So when these students are frequently denied access to “normal” schools, they are forced to pay to attend special education schools that the government does not fund. Schools on the no-fee list generally serve children who live in low-income areas, which makes up the majority of South African students. According to Spreen, tuition fees have made the dream of free education in South Africa an unattainable goal. There is no reason why state schools which cater for disabled pupils should not be on the list of free schools when the pupils come from the same background. The highest..