Exploring high school principals’ perceptions of the influence of school fees on inclusive education in Eswatini

Despite Eswatini’s policy commitment to inclusive education, high school principals are forced to rely on mandatory school fees to run their institutions, effectively creating an economic barrier that excludes marginalised and poor learners from accessing secondary education. This paper explores the experiences of two high school principals regarding school fee payments in the Manzini region, Eswatini. It further explores how mandatory school fees affect high school principals' ability to implement inclusive education practices for orphaned and vulnerable children and learners from low-income backgrounds in Eswatini. This study employed a qualitative phenomenological design, utilising semi-structured interviews for data collection and thematic analysis for data interpretation. Findings from this qualitative study indicate a critical policy–practice gap, in which the pressure to maintain institutional viability forces principals to adopt exclusionary financial measures. Consequently, while inclusive education is supported in theory, it is compromised in practice as financial solvency is prioritised over the universal right to access.