Structural Barriers to Inclusive Education

Abstract

Inclusive education is recognized in global and national frameworks as a fundamental right. However, students with disabilities in Sri Lankan higher education institutions continue to encounter structural barriers in their everyday life at the university. This qualitative case study examines how students with and without disabilities perceive accessibility across physical and digital environments at a Sri Lankan state university and how institutional policies conceptualize and operationalize accessibility within this context. Guided by the Social Model of Disability, the study examines how physical and digital infrastructure, together with policy implementation, shape structural conditions of inclusion and exclusion. Data were collected through an open-ended online questionnaire completed by 15 students, voluntary follow-up semi-structured interviews with five of those students, observations of physical and digital infrastructure (the university website and Learning Management System) within the university environment, and analysis of two institutional disability policies from the same university. Thematic analysis showed that physical accessibility is selectively retrofitted rather than embedded by design; that digital systems are technically available but not integrated into inclusive teaching, producing access without participation; that teaching is organized around a hearing, speaking “standard” learner, with no provision of sign language; and that, in the absence of formal support, students with disabilities depend on peers and family to move around campus, follow lectures, and voice grievances. Policy analysis showed that although institutional documents set out commitments and procedures, these are not consistently communicated to students or implemented in practice, producing a gap between policy and students’ lived experiences. By triangulating student perspectives with observational and policy analysis, this study illustrates how structural exclusion emerges through the interaction of architectural design, pedagogical practice, and policy implementation within a publicly funded rural university context. The findings point to the need to move beyond rhetorical commitments toward accountable, system-level approaches to inclusive education in Sri Lanka and similar developing higher education systems.