Disability and Campus Life: Voicing Experiences of Students with Disability at Makerere University

Abstract

Higher education is a process of imparting knowledge and skills to individuals and empowers them to participate in development, decision making and democratic process. Effective education takes place when students are able to participate fully and benefit from that education. Higher education in some parts of the world is perceived as a privilege of the few intellectuals or the rich and able persons, leaving persons with disability at the peripherals. Persons with disabilities are unable to access higher education due to barriers outside the institutions and those within. Such barriers include negative attitude and inaccessible environments. This article examines students with disability’s access to study in higher education institutions, exemplifying Makerere University, Uganda. Using a qualitative approach through interviews, researchers accessed eleven participants’ voices on how students with disabilities cope and persist to complete their studies. Despite some improvement on treatment of students with disabilities, the study finds many institutional, individual, and ideological barriers that disenfranchise their full participation in study environment. The study recommends infrastructural provision, capacity and self-esteem building, and law and policy formulation as necessary for better appreciation of students with disability.