Urban education and inclusion in Africa: section editor’s introduction

Perry’s impression of Africa as a European, poignantly captures the essence of African community and culture. He shares tales told by people he has met through his travels through Africa to provide a captivating account of the histories and realities of the continent, suggesting that Africa has been misunderstood by Europe and this misunderstanding has caused a rift, which he believes is being healed by Africa breaking free and forcing us to rethink. In this series, we provide insight into education in five countries – South Africa, Swaziland Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya – from the perspective of local scholars within these countries. As Perry emphasises, it addresses the need to let locals tell their own stories to avoid the misunderstanding. We look at this concept of ‘I am because you are’, from a community-based perspective, which is critical to an understanding of ‘inclusion’ in the African context. What this series aims to do is to provide a background to inclusion and inclusive education as an indispensable thread within the education landscape, within a global perspective and how this has been adopted in Africa, the rationale for a local commitment towards inclusion in the context of exclusion and marginalisation and how this is being translated into policy and practice, particularly within urban areas.