Inclusive education policies versus implementation challenges in the Southern Africa development community countries : a scoping review

Abstract

The Salamanca framework of Action of 1994 and the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2006 guide SADC member states in formulating inclusive education policies in mainstream and inclusive schools. However, the literature on policies versus implementation remains unclear. This scoping review maps the literature on the common inclusive education policies versus implementation challenges in inclusive education in the SADC countries and how these challenges exclude students with special learning needs. The study employed a mixed approach and case study design to explore the inclusive education policies versus their implementation challenges in the SADC region. A search was conducted through Google Scholar, Science Direct, Research Gate, and PubMed for studies published between 1994 and 2025. The study adopted Boolean operators and proximity operators. Data extraction focuses on the author(s), year of publication, country, research approach, design, data collection methods, analysis, and the key findings. It adopted the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA-SCR) extension for Scoping Reviews. A total of ninety studies were identified from the search strategies and databases. Inclusion and exclusion criteria screened the studies; forty-eight were irrelevant, and forty were relevant to this scoping review. A total of forty-two studies were included. Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia, and Malawi have published numerous studies on inclusive education compared to other countries in the SADC region. This study found that SADC countries have common inclusive education challenges, such as inadequate instructional materials, inaccessible infrastructures, rigid curricula, negative attitudes of teachers and administrators towards inclusive education and disabilities, and teachers having insufficient knowledge and skills to teach in inclusive schools. The study recommends that all SADC countries consider reviewing their inclusive education policies to address the implementation challenges.