Coloniality, care, and exclusion: rethinking inclusive education through Peruvian special schools

This article examines the tensions of inclusive education in Peru through two Special Basic Education Centers (CEBE) in Lima serving children with complex disabilities. Based on qualitative fieldwork (July–September 2025) with teachers, parents, and staff, the study shows how these institutions operate at the intersection of care, pedagogy, and structural exclusion. Despite a legal framework promoting inclusion, schools face chronic shortages of staff, therapies, and nutritional support, revealing a gap between rights and realities. Drawing on decolonial and critical disability studies, we argue that CEBE embody a paradox: they reproduce segregation while offering vital spaces of care and community. Situating these findings within debates on coloniality and disability, the article invites a rethinking of inclusion beyond mere access to mainstream schooling, toward a politics of educational justice that recognizes diverse ways of learning, caring, and living.