Disability Types and Children’s Schooling in Africa

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on inclusive and equitable quality education aim to ensure equal access to education for children with disabilities. Our study enhances understanding of school enrolment patterns among children with different types of disabilities, using the first large-scale application of the Washington Group Child (WGC) function module in Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) nationally representative surveys across eight African countries. We analyze early school enrolment for children below ten years old, school enrolment for older children aged 10–17, and school dropout rates, treating different types of disabilities as random treatments in a natural experiment. Our findings indicate that children with vision and hearing disabilities have comparable enrolment rates to their non-disabled peers. In contrast, children with physical disabilities are more likely to start school late, while those with intellectual disabilities face significant challenges, including lower enrolment rates, higher dropout rates, and difficulty remaining enrolled. Children with multiple disabilities experience the most severe obstacles to school enrolment at all ages. Future research on educational policies and their implementation should focus on addressing the diverse challenges faced by children with various disabilities to promote their educational inclusion effectively.