Chiwandire Desire, Vincent Louise
Department of Political and International Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa.
Afr J Disabil. 2019 Jan 29;8(0):336. doi: 10.4102/ajod.v8i0.336. eCollection 2019.
Historically, challenges faced by students with disabilities (SWDs) in accessing higher education institutions (HEIs) were attributed to limited public funding. The introduction of progressive funding models such as disability scholarships served to widen access to, and participation in, higher education for SWDs. However, recent years have seen these advances threatened by funding cuts and privatisation in higher education.
In this article, the funding mechanisms of selected developed and developing democratic countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and India are described in order to gain an insight into how such mechanisms enhance access, equal participation, retention, success and equality of outcome for SWDs. The countries selected are often spoken about as exemplars of best practices in relation to widening access and opportunities for SWDs through government mandated funding mechanisms.
A critical literature review of the sample countries' funding mechanisms governing SWDs in higher education and other relevant government documents; secondary academic literature on disability funding; online sources including University World News, University Affairs, newspaper articles, newsletters, literature from bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Disabled World and Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Data were analysed using a theoretically derived directed qualitative content analysis.
Barriers which place SWDs at a substantial educational disadvantage compared to their non-disabled peers include bureaucratisation of application processes, cuts in disability funding, means-test requirements, minimal scholarships for supporting part-time and distance learning for SWDs and inadequate financial support to meet the day-to-day costs that arise as a result of disability.
Although the steady increase of SWDs accessing HEIs of the sampled countries have been attributed to supportive disability funding policies, notable is the fact that these students are still confronted by insurmountable disability funding-oriented barriers. Thus, we recommend the need for these HEIs to address these challenges as a matter of urgency if they are to respect the rights of SWDs as well as provide them with an enabling environment to succeed academically.
从历史上看，残疾学生进入高等教育机构面临的挑战被归因于公共资金有限。诸如残疾奖学金等渐进式资助模式的引入，有助于扩大残疾学生接受高等教育的机会和参与度。然而，近年来，这些进展受到高等教育资金削减和私有化的威胁。
本文描述了包括英国、美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、南非和印度在内的部分发达国家和发展中民主国家的资助机制，以便深入了解这些机制如何促进残疾学生的入学机会、平等参与、留校率、学业成就和结果平等。所选国家常被视为通过政府强制资助机制扩大残疾学生入学机会和提供机会方面最佳实践的典范。
对样本国家高等教育中残疾学生资助机制及其他相关政府文件进行批判性文献综述；关于残疾资助的二手学术文献；在线资源，包括《大学世界新闻》《大学事务》、报纸文章、时事通讯、经济合作与发展组织、残疾世界和议会监督小组等机构的文献。使用理论推导的定向定性内容分析法对数据进行分析。
与非残疾同龄人相比，使残疾学生处于重大教育劣势的障碍包括申请流程的官僚化、残疾资助的削减、经济状况调查要求、支持残疾学生兼职和远程学习的奖学金极少，以及用于支付因残疾产生的日常费用的财政支持不足。
尽管样本国家中进入高等教育机构的残疾学生人数稳步增加归因于支持性的残疾资助政策，但值得注意的是，这些学生仍然面临着难以克服的以残疾资助为导向的障碍。因此，我们建议，如果这些高等教育机构要尊重残疾学生的权利，并为他们提供一个使其在学业上取得成功的有利环境，就需要紧急应对这些挑战。
