The challenge of real rights for disabled students in South Africa

This article argues that part of redressing unequal access to higher education for disabled students is the challenge of transforming formal rights into real rights. Four sections build up to the argument. The first section outlines some of the challenges facing support provision for disabled students in South Africa. The second section describes and analyses the principles of disability rights in South Africa. The third section explains the limits to rights and how they may affects support provision for disabled students. The final section points at some considerations of the nature of rights in thinking about widening access to higher education for disabled students. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 21 (4) 2007: pp. 706-71