ABSTRACT
All black students in South Africa can be said to be educationally disadvantaged as a result of racial segregation. Their experiences of political violence, poverty and physical neglect add to the complexity of their requirements for special educational services. Under apartheid, black students have been taught in classes of between forty and sixty, their curriculum has been restricted to basic literacy, vocational skills and moral education, and they represent only about 3 per cent of all university graduates. The 1976 Soweto riots were provoked by a dispute over education. As in China, the scale of the reforms necessary to build up an equitable education system is vast. For example, it is estimated that around 600,000 black students with disabilities and other difficulties are either not attending school or are in the mainstream without appropriate support. Zandile Nkabinde argues that dispelling the effects of apartheid will take a long time, that it is essential to fund all students equally and that all teachers should be prepared by their training to support the learning of students seen to have special educational needs.
