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Qinisela is an eight-year-old boy who has never been to school. He has Down Syndrome and his mother Thandi has tried to get him into a mainstream school and a special school.

Thandi, from Kwa-Ngwanase in South Africa, said: �鶹APP�We tried to put him in a school but they said they couldn�鶹APP�t put him in that school because he has disabilities. The school said that he was naughty. He isn�鶹APP�t like other children so they said they can�鶹APP�t teach him.

�鶹APP�At the therapy they promised to phone if there�鶹APP�s a space in a special school. I�鶹APP�ve been waiting since last year.�鶹APP�

Qinisela is just one of about 500,000 children with disabilities who are being excluded from South Africa�鶹APP�s education system, according to a report published today by . That is despite the government claiming it has met the United Nations Millennium Development goal of enrolling all children into primary school by 2015. 

The investigation discovered that the right to education was not guaranteed to all children �鶹APP� because of widespread discrimination against those with disabilities during the enrolment process.

The 94-page report �鶹APP� titled �鶹APP� was launched at a joint event with the South African Human Rights Commission.

Its author, Human Rights Watch children�鶹APP�s rights researcher Elin Martínez, said: �鶹APP�The South African government needs to admit that it is not providing quality education to all of its children �鶹APP� in fact, no schooling at all to many who have disabilities. The job is not done until all children count just the same in the education system.�鶹APP�

Research in five of the country�鶹APP�s nine provinces showed that children are often turned away from mainstream schools and referred to special schools simply because they have a disability. This system forces many to wait for up to four years for placement in a special school.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch also found that children with disabilities who attend special schools often must pay fees that children without disabilities do not. In some cases, parents are unable to send their child to school because they cannot pay these fees and transportation costs to schools far from their homes.

There is also a lack of understanding of children�鶹APP�s disabilities and poor teacher training. This can result in physical violence and neglect in schools.

The report said the government should:

• Ensure all children and young adults with disabilities have access to equal opportunities to learn and benefit from a quality education
• Adopt a new policy and legislation to require all provincial governments and schools to ensure that all learners with disabilities can complete basic education and are given an equal opportunity to go to mainstream schools that are accessible and free of violence
• Ensure all children with disabilities and their families are adequately consulted before making decisions on a school placement
• Remove school fees and other financial barriers that prevent children with disabilities from going to school

Ms Martinez added: �鶹APP�The current system is ad hoc and expensive, and isolates children with disabilities from other learners. As a result, the government is failing hundreds of thousands of children with disabilities, violating its own policies and laws.�鶹APP�

Since 2001, South African government policy has been to end the exclusion of children with disabilities from schools and to provide education for all children in inclusive schools. And in 2007 it ratified the  which says countries must have an inclusive education system. But Human Rights Watch said fundamental aspects of inclusive education policy had not yet been put in place.

The that South Africa �鶹APP�can now be recognised as having attained near universal access�鶹APP� to education �鶹APP� but added that much more needed to be done to improve its quality.

There is no widely-accepted figure for the number of children with disabilities who are out of school around the world. The : �鶹APP�In most developing countries, there is little relevant data to identify the number of disabled children.�鶹APP� The says: �鶹APP�Estimates for the number of children (0-14) living with disabilities range between 93 million and 150 million. It adds: �鶹APP�In general, children with disabilities are less likely to start school and have lower rates of staying and being promoted in school.�鶹APP�